That slow movement means our days are slowly getting longer \u2013 one study found<\/a> that the length of an average day has increased by about one millisecond every century since the late 1600s.<\/p>\n So how did NASA scientists even clock this slow-motion drift? It all started with the Apollo missions more than 50 years ago, when astronauts left reflective panels on the moon\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n Since then, scientists have been shooting laser beams at the panels and recording the amount of time it takes for the light to come back to Earth. That\u2019s how they were able to measure with such accuracy how fast the moon is retreating.<\/p>\n The slowly widening gap is caused by the gravitational tug-of-war between the two bodies. The moon\u2019s gravitational pull causes our oceans to bulge toward it.<\/p>\n As NASA explains it, \u201cBecause Earth rotates on its axis faster than the Moon orbits it, the higher gravity from Earth\u2019s bulge tries to speed up the Moon\u2019s rotation. Meanwhile, the Moon is pulling on Earth and slowing the planet\u2019s rotation. The friction that ensues from this tug-of-war forces the Moon into a wider orbit.\u201d<\/p>\n That wider orbit is what creates the slowly growing distance between the moon and us each year.<\/p>\n So could we eventually lose the moon? The short answer is no.<\/p>\n NASA says that about 50 billion years from now, the moon would be so far away and its orbit so large that the Earth would tidally lock to the moon. The two bodies would stop moving away from each other. That means only half of our world (and whomever is left on it) would ever see the moon.<\/p>\n However, the sun would likely intervene long before that could happen. Scientists believe that in about 5 billion years, the sun will die<\/a>, becoming a giant red star that obliterates both the moon and the Earth.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s hoping that our future civilizations will be watching that happen from another planet we\u2019ve learned to inhabit.<\/p>\n MORE ON WEATHER.COM<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2ea6237ad47a05a1e01bfb2dd25deea0.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n