So, theoreticly, if we moved enough "resources" off the moon, we could cause the orbit of the moon to change relative to the earth? What happens when it starts to be affected by atmospheric drag?
Since this would happen long after I'm dead, I'm all for it. I think crashing the moon into the earth would be a fitting end for a species stupid enough to screw with such things. I just wish I would be there for the CNN broadcast "Scientists announced today that, while we may have lasted until the sun died out and absorbed us in a fiery holocaust, we're all going to die next week when the moon will strike somewhere near Peoria and break apart the planet. Kiss your ass goodbye. Man, I wish we had launched our garbage up there."
It could happen. The AO-7 Satellite, launched in 1974 was "dead" for over 20 years when someone heard it by chance one day. And that satellite was built by amateurs. More info here.
Of course, even if Pioneer "comes back", it's still travelling away from us and the signal might be far too weak to detect. It's also possible that it's operating fine, we just can't hear it anymore.. Isn't it the fastest moving object man has ever created? I admittedly not an expert on the matter.
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So, theoreticly, if we moved enough "resources" off the moon, we could cause the orbit of the moon to change relative to the earth? What happens when it starts to be affected by atmospheric drag? Since this would happen long after I'm dead, I'm all for it. I think crashing the moon into the earth would be a fitting end for a species stupid enough to screw with such things. I just wish I would be there for the CNN broadcast "Scientists announced today that, while we may have lasted until the sun died out and absorbed us in a fiery holocaust, we're all going to die next week when the moon will strike somewhere near Peoria and break apart the planet. Kiss your ass goodbye. Man, I wish we had launched our garbage up there."
It could happen. The AO-7 Satellite, launched in 1974 was "dead" for over 20 years when someone heard it by chance one day. And that satellite was built by amateurs.
More info here.
Of course, even if Pioneer "comes back", it's still travelling away from us and the signal might be far too weak to detect. It's also possible that it's operating fine, we just can't hear it anymore.. Isn't it the fastest moving object man has ever created? I admittedly not an expert on the matter.