[katieHaylor (OP)]

Ian says:

I have a theory to try and understand the moon moving away from Earth at a rate of 4cm a year.

There have been six manned landings on the moon and also six lift off's from the moon's surface. All the landings and lift off's occurred on the bright side of the moon, the side that faces us of course.

Using Newtons Third Law (and i'm not a scientist) if each lift off exerts a tiny force on the moon's surface and not the same force from the dark side, would it be just enough to give the moon a miniscule nudge away from us...?

What do you think?

[Kryptid]

Spacecraft don't produce remotely enough force to push the Moon away at a rate of 3.8 centimeters per year. Tidal interactions with Earth is what pushes the Moon away.

[Petrochemicals]

Due to the spacecraft not achieving escape velocity of the moon it will not affect the orbit

[Bored chemist]

Due to the spacecraft not achieving escape velocity of the moon it will not affect the orbit

Yes it will, though the effect will be tiny.

[Slickscientist]

The moon might be moving away because:
.The orbit of the moon
.The earth's gravitational force is affecting the moon in some way
.As we know, space is expanding. Maby the space around the moon is proof of this

I hope you find this helpful.
Yours sincerely,
Salik Imran, A secondary school student interested in Science.

[Slickscientist]

The effect of the moon landings is like the effect of a person jumping on the earth. There is am effect but it is too small to comprehend.