The trailer of the sci-fi movie Moonfall, which is planned to be released in 2022, has been released. The film is about what people experience when the moon comes out of orbit and approaches the earth. Wired magazine writer Rhett Allain, Professor of Physics, “Can the Moon Really Hit the Earth?” sought an answer to his question.
Professor Allain studied the probability of the Moon hitting the Earth according to the laws of physics. He published a video in which he explained the study in detail.
According to the professor’s work:
The gravitational force pulls the Earth and Moon towards each other. This force depends on the masses of both bodies and is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers. The Moon moves in a direction perpendicular to the force of gravity, and this causes the Moon’s path to bend and rotate around the Earth. For this reason, the Moon is in orbit around the Earth and moves in a circular motion. If they were moving in the same orbit, the increase in the gravitational force could cause the Moon to collide with the Earth.
There is only gravitational interaction between the Earth and the Moon. The magnitude of the force exerted by the Moon on the Earth is the same as the force exerted by the Earth on the Moon. The mass of the Earth is 81 times greater than the mass of the Moon, and its movement is very small compared to the Moon. This means that the size of its circular orbit will be much smaller. So there will be a smaller change in speed. However, since this circle is smaller than the planet, it can cause a wobble that is too small to affect the planet.
According to the animation he prepared, assuming that the Moon exerts a force 50 times greater than the current gravitational force, the increase in the force causes the Moon’s orbit to take the form of an ellipse over time. Changing the shape of the orbit will change the speed and mass of the entire system, so it can realize many incalculable possibilities. But for such a collision to occur, a mysterious force and a long push is needed.
Professor Rhett Allain shared a video where he explains the orbital mechanics of the Earth-Moon system at a basic level. You can find all the details about this topic in the video here.
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