Submitted by Hardscrabble Farmer
“This widening gap is the result of gravitational interactions between the two bodies.”
Does that sound like anything you have ever heard about gravity as a force? Not that I believe the original premise that two astronauts landed on the Moon and set the reflector on its surface. But the gravitational pull of the Earth on the Moon is actually pushing the Moon away from us?
Time to question everything you have ever heard.
Is the Moon drifting away from Earth? Laser beams unravel a new mystery
While the Moon has always been a source of mystery for people across the world, a new observation has raised the curiosity in astronomy circles even further: Is the Moon drifting away from Earth?
On several occasions during the last decade, scientists have fired laser beams at reflector panels placed about 240,000 miles (385,000 kilometers) away from Earth, on the Moon. By measuring how long it takes laser light to return to Earth — about 2.5 seconds on average — researchers calculate the distance between Earth laser stations and Moon reflectors.
The signals they received back this time indicate that the Earth and Moon are slowly drifting apart at the rate at which fingernails grow or 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) per year. This widening gap is the result of gravitational interactions between the two bodies.
The results were published this month in the Journal Earth, Planets and Space.
“Now that we’ve been collecting data for 50 years, we can see trends that we wouldn’t have been able to see otherwise,” said Erwan Mazarico, a planetary scientist from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, who coordinated the LRO experiment.
Analysis of lunar laser data shows that the Moon has a fluid core. (NASA)
There are five reflecting panels on the Moon. Two were delivered by Apollo 11 and 14 crews in 1969 and 1971, respectively. They are each made of 100 mirrors that scientists call “corner cubes,” as they are corners of a glass cube; these mirrors reflect light back to any direction it comes from. Another panel with 300 corner cubes was dropped off by Apollo 15 astronauts in 1971. Soviet robotic rovers called Lunokhod 1 and 2, which landed in 1970 and 1973, carry two additional reflectors, with 14 mirrors each. Collectively, these reflectors comprise the last working science experiment from the Apollo era still active on the natural satellite.
Is dust the culprit on the Moon?
Some experts suspect that the reason why some of the reflectors are returning only a 10th of the expected signal could be dust. They suspect dust could have settled on the panels over decades after getting kicked up by micrometeorite impacts. These dust particles could be blocking the light from reaching the mirrors, insulating them leading to overheating, and reducing their efficiency.
There are five reflecting panels on the Moon. Two were delivered by Apollo 11 and 14 crews in 1969 and 1971. (NASA)
Following the research, scientists are hoping to use Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) reflector to determine if that’s true by trying to find a discrepancy in the light returned from LRO’s reflector versus the surface ones, they could use computer models to test whether dust or something else, is responsible.
The reflector scientists aimed for is mounted on the LRO, a spacecraft that has been studying the Moon from its orbit since 2009. The reflectors were placed on the spacecraft so that it could serve as a target to help test the reflecting power of panels left on Moon’s surface by Apollo missions about 50 years ago.
The art of beams
The laser experiment on the Moon has been going on since Astronaut Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on its surface in 1969. Four telescopes at observatories in New Mexico, France, Italy, and Germany fire lasers at the retro-reflector arrays, measuring the time that it takes for a laser pulse to bounce off the reflectors and return to Earth. Apart from measuring the distance, the beams have helped in determining orbit, rotation, and orientation of the Moon over the years which are critical for spacecraft that orbit and land on the lunar surface.
They are each made of 100 mirrors that scientists call “corner cubes,” as they are corners of a glass cube. (NASA)
The beams have helped understand the natural phenomenon of tides on the planet, which are highest not when the Moon is overhead, but hours later. The highest tide is east of the Moon. They have helped identify Earth’s gravity tugs on the Moon, causing two tidal bulges of the lunar rock. According to NASA, the positions of the reflecting arrays have varied as much as six inches (15 centimeters) up and down each month as the Moon flexes.
Analysis of lunar laser data shows that the Moon has a fluid core. Further, laser experiments could help reveal if there’s a solid material in the Moon’s core that would’ve helped power the now-extinct magnetic field. “The precision of this one measurement has the potential to refine our understanding of gravity and the evolution of the solar system,” said Xiaoli Sun, a Goddard planetary scientist who helped design LRO’s reflector.
Laser beams being fired upon moon to study the lunar properties. (NASA Goddard)
Getting more photons to the Moon and back and better accounting for ones that are lost because of dust are a couple of ways to help improve precision in the future. But it’s a herculean task.
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Think I saw this one in a Far Side comic once.
Yeah and I’m an Amish jet pilot.
herculean task, eh? sounds like a job for Space Sex and one of their super Phallic, I mean, Falcon 9 rockets.
Well, considering all the crap that’s happening on Earth these days, if I was the Moon I’d be drifting away too.
Now that’s funny.
Well, I know from fishing the Piscataqua River in NH/ME, that the tides are way more heavy on a full moon. Feels like the boat is rolling down some rapids. But catching some nice striped bass is worth it.
I also really wonder if men did land on the moon.
That being said, yes, the moon is slowly getting farther away due to tidal forces, which also slowly down the earth’s rotation.
Hi Hardscrabble, Yes, gravitation is an attractive force. For this reason, when a satellite in low Earth orbit encounters friction from the very low density material in the ionosphere, kinetic energy is bled away, and the satellite, for example, Skylab, falls to Earth. But, for the moon, friction in the tides is the reason why the moon loses kinetic energy and angular momentum. The net effect the torque exerted on the moon by tidal friction and the frictional forces result in the moon slowly moving farther from the Earth. Normally total energy (kinetic plus gravitational potental) is conserved, but friction in the tides causes the total energy to decrease, and total energy for a closed orbital system is given by: -GMm/2R, so as Etot gets closer to zero, R, the radius of the orbit gets larger.
” total energy (kinetic plus gravitational potental) is conserved, but friction in the tides causes the total energy to decrease, and total energy for a closed orbital system is given by: -GMm/2R, so as Etot gets closer to zero, R, the radius of the orbit gets larger.”
I understand it now.
Tidal force problems began once Proctor and Gamble abandoned classic soap flakes in the lovely orange box, which BTW was biodegradable. Trouble began when the bottles of liquid appeared on the scene. Then they concentrated the liquid further for HE. The final insult to Tidal forces of our galaxy are the new pods.
you’re right! I think that it’s time to call in space force –
I agree. Those new pods are dangerous, they force themselves on impressionable teenagers, and said teenagers feel compelled to eat them. The pods also leave their skins in the washer.
OK, I’m confused. I’m not a science person at all. But I was taught the moon directs tides on earth, not the other way around.
You probably heard that the moon always presents the same side to the earth as it orbits. That is not exactly true; it oscillates slightly (think of someone looking at you and shaking his head slightly), so that we actually can see a little more than 50% of the surface through the month. This combines with another effect, that the earth’s gravity is slightly higher, its influence is slightly higher, on portions of the moon which are closer to the earth than on portions on the far side of the moon.
The combination of the oscillation with the differing effects of that the earth’s gravity causes the moon to continually (but *slightly*) change shape. This variation in the shape of the moon is called “tides”.
HTH
Daniel, thank you so much for taking the time to give me that explanation. It has cleared up my confusion. Now I can reread this and the comments and understand more of what is being discussed.
WTF
There were no reflectors place on the moon’s surface because we didn’t go to the moon. Based on that alone, I call B.S.
Speak for yourself and don’t say “we”. I have been to the moon LOTS of times. Last time I even left a little red blinking LED tail light behind instead of the cat’s eye reflector under my seat.
The next time someone ridicules you over claiming we never went to the moon, I suggest you and that person sit down and look at the LEM landing photos from all 6 Apollo missions. You will find that not one blast crater can be found under any of the 6 LEMs. The thrust from the exhaust gases during landing should have eroded a large hole underneath each LEM. And as the reason for the drift in distance is given as dust, the moon should be covered in dust and thus all 6 LEMs should have been filthy covered in dust. But all 6 LEMs are squeaky clean, like no thrust and no dust.
This, the absence of radiation sickness experienced by all 18 astronauts who traveled outside the van Allen Belt, and the complete lack of stars seen from the moon (that can aid an enterprising person to pinpoint the exact position of each LEM) are the three smoking guns as to give rise to serious questions about man walking on the moon. And. believe it or not people questioned it right off the bat but were immediately and severely ridiculed. But after 9/11, WMD wars, and now COVID fraud it makes the moon landing hoax worthy of revisit.
I wonder what Emerald has to say on the subject.
She probably doesn’t care after switching from covering NASA to covering the White House.
This in fact answers a LOT of questions for me. If we humans have been firing laser weapons at the moon, then naturally the moon is going to fight back, including sending its operatives to Earth. Hence the number of lunatics running around and running our asylum.
I’m struggling with the optics of the picture above. Why do we see the laser beam all the way to the moon? I didn’t know we could see a light beam from the side as it travels through space. Ah, says my NASA scientist, these are *powerful* lasers and they are being diffused by the atmosphere partially as they strike particles, and that’s what you are seeing. OK, then, so the atmosphere and its particulate payload extend all the way to the moon homogeneously? Why aren’t these beams visible to large numbers of people in that part of the world while firing?
My take is even the moon wants to move away from the democrat leftist just like millions are fleeing the left coast
Actually, isn’t that movement in MASS a possible explanation for the gravitational and rotational changes? Gravity is dependent on the planet mass and its radius, if there is movement in either of these then everything should be affected somewhat.
My questions to NASA et. al. would be:
Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?
I didn’t think so.
and what the hell is that zip lock bag doing next to “the reflector”? doesn’t look very green to me.
Hey the way things are going these days here on Earth if I were the Moon I would want to move away too.
Let’s have a look at this rationally.
The moon is 238,900 miles away from the earth. 1 mile = 5,280 feet.
Thus, the moon is 238,900 miles x 5,280 feet / mile = 1,261,392,000 feet from the earth.
The moon’s deflection from the earth is 6 inches or 0.5 feet.
Therefore, the change in distance as a percentage is 0.5 feet / 1,261,392,000 feet x 100 = 3.964e-10%.
This has got to be within the tolerance of expected measurement error. Measurement instruments do drift and require either re-calibration or replacement from time to time.
It reminds me of those Australian radio-telescope operators that thought they had discovered alien communications that occurred every day at a similar time in the afternoon. They went ahead and reported it to the media. After further investigation it turns out it was the radio-telescopes picking up the stray radio emissions from the brand new microwave in the lunchroom.
Do you or 22 useless caliber ever take a day off?
Have either of you ever contemplated centrifugal force?
Why don’t you find another website to play in? You don’t contribute anything constructive.
The moon’s orbital velocity is a bit too fast so it will gradually move to a higher orbit until an equilibrium is reached. Orbital mechanics is counter intuitive. For example, if you’re trailing a spacecraft and want to catch up to it, you need to fire your retro rockets and slow down. This lets you slip into a lower orbit where your speed will increase. The increased speed will cause you to move back into your higher orbit again and if you time it just right you’ll intersect with the spacecraft. If you time it wrong you’ll wind up above and ahead of your target. It may take several complete orbits to complete the maneuver.
The earth is growing and gaining mass every year, so of course the moon is going to fall into a bigger orbit
Marc,
We have been lied to about everything of importance by the Luciferian Globalists running this fallen world: money, false flag wars and their causes, hidden hand history, corrupt politics, going to the moon, weaponized weather control, 911, the Kennedy hit, our GMO food and medicine that is mostly slow motion suicide, the plandemic, vaccines that are filled with poisons attacking our children, and us, the list is endless.
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