No. That's a common question because (a) people don't realize how HUGE the
Moon is (even though it is smaller than Earth) and (b) there is a lot of
bad scifi where humans tamper with the Moon and that change it's orbit. In
practice, though, it is kind of like fearing that Africa or Asia (around
the same surface area of the Moon) would have their equilibrium over the
mantle disturbed if we mine them too much.
spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>
> I have often wondered if large scale habitat building using lunar
> resources could change the mass of the moon significantly enough to change
> its orbital status, ie. move away from earth or close in a little in its
> orbit.
>
On Wed, Jan 13, 2016 at 12:38 AM,
donray40@...
[spacesettlers]
<
spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com
>
I have often wondered if large scale habitat building using lunar resources could change the mass of the moon significantly enough to change its orbital status, ie. move away from earth or close in a little in its orbit.
Reminds me of a physics lecture I had many years ago, where theprofessor calculated how much the Earth would move, if an entiremountain range was lifted off of it. Answer: the width of a hydrogenatom.you wrote:> No. That's a common question because (a) people don't realize how HUGE> the Moon is (even though it is smaller than Earth) and (b) there is a lot of> bad scifi where humans tamper with the Moon and that change it's orbit. In> practice, though, it is kind of like fearing that Africa or Asia (around the> same surface area of the Moon) would have their equilibrium over the> mantle disturbed if we mine them too much.