From: Mark Holm 
To: atm{at}shore.net
Reply-To: Mark Holm 


> At what point will the earth's mass finally draw the moon to earth?
>

I think I read in S&T a few years back that the situation is a lot
weirder than one might imagine.  By tidal drag, the moon is actually
stealing rotational energy from the earth.  The energy is going into the
moon's orbit, so that the moon is actually climbing!  I forget whether they
said the moon will eventually reach escape velocity, or whether the earth
will run out of rotational energy first.

I suppose if it escapes, then the two would be in very close solar orbits
and the risk of collision would be real.

Mark Holm
mdholm{at}telerama.com

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