Could we pull the moon to Earth with a long chain

Not that we would want to, and it's a silly thought, but could we? If there is no weight in space, could we attach a long (VERY long) chain to the moon and the other end to some pully/gear thing here on Earth and start reeling it in?

Would the chain break? Would the mechanisms holding the chain to the either location break? Could you literally pull the chain and the moon down with your bare hands because there's no weight in space?

I was thinking this because we're so worried about an asteroid crashing into Earth, well what about the moon doing the same? It's right there ready to possibly destroy us, but have we considered that? What if an asteroid hits the moon and blasts some bits towards us? I guess I'm just wondering should we fear the moon?

I've been hittin' the gym lately. Lets' do it.

reply to post by salsaking


The chain would break, but not before knocking the Earth of her rotational orbit.

In Space; Gravity effects everything. If we were to attach ourselves to the Moon for whatever reason, our Gravitational pull on each other would destabilize the pull of the Sun.

Not only would it do that, but it would also remove our atmosphere. Without our protection from the Solar Winds we'd greatly regret ever attaching the Moon to the Earth.

what if the chain had a gravitational pull that pulled the earth and the moon towards the center of the chain..eventually colliding? Damn, that'd be one big chain.

For Sale: One chain. Attributes include being difficult to handle and having it's own gravitational pull. u pick up.

Chuck Norris could do it with his mustache whiskers.

reply to post by Grumble



I heard that chuck norris' haircut wrote the bible.

You can't make a chain to even exit our own atmosphere, because the weight of the chain itself would force it to break at a point far up, but before the atmosphere. If you then go and make the chain thicker and "stronger", you also increase the weight.. so no.

You'd need some kind of "super" material. And even then NO you couldn't pull it with your bare hands.. Because inertia

Theoretically, yes it could be done if we had enough material. By using the mechanics of geared block and tackles it could be stepped down far enough for a 5 year old to have the strength to do it. At a certain point the gravity attraction would hit a point of no return and the child could stop, since he would be completely bored by this point anyways.

Anchor points would be tricky due to local stresses at the pull points. The diameter of the links on the main chain would probably be bigger than LA. Running the chain to the moon would take a huge rocket.

Overall it might be cheaper and easier to build a thruster system of millions of thrusters and push the moon into the earth. Of course installing it would take quite a long time and calculations would have to be right on the money. Because after all that effort a glancing blow would just look lame.

Even with 6.5 billion of us signing a dedicated suicide pact it would still take years. Trying to pull it of in secret? Good luck.

reply to post by Tentickles

In Space; Gravity effects everything. If we were to attach ourselves to the Moon for whatever reason, our Gravitational pull on each other would destabilize the pull of the Sun.

Er... no... Attaching a long chain from the Earth to the Moon would have basically no affect on each others gravity - nor the sun's. Gravity doesn't run like electrical current.

Gravity has very little to do with it. Mass and Momentum is far more important to the equation.

reply to post by Ahabstar



If antigravity is know then a gravitational field could be turned on and off. We could send a chain into space, attach one end to the earth and the other to the moon, then activate the gravitational pull of the chain. I think it would be easier to figure out antigravity than it would be to hook up a pulley system.

Originally posted by salsaking


I was thinking this because we're so worried about an asteroid crashing into Earth, well what about the moon doing the same? It's right there ready to possibly destroy us, but have we considered that? What if an asteroid hits the moon and blasts some bits towards us? I guess I'm just wondering should we fear the moon?

The centripedal forces on the chain/tether would be enormous , as those proposing a space elevator have discovered.

The moon offers us some protection from asteroid strikes, effects our tides etc. and is a stabilizing factor for the axis of rotation of the Earth.

The Earth would 'wobble' without the moon, throwing our seasons etc out of whack . So if we could manipulate its position it would have quite an effect on Earth.
I believe the moon is gradually moving away from Earth , but i see your point, it is a menacing ball of matter circling us , now if its orbit was deteriorating inwards .... (i shudder at the thought )


If We Had No Moon.

reply to post by Ahabstar

Theoretically, yes it could be done if we had enough material. By using the mechanics of geared block and tackles it could be stepped down far enough for a 5 year old to have the strength to do it.

You wouldn't even need that. The Earth rotation is far faster than the Moon's orbit and rotation. Simply attaching the chain (if you could find a way to keep it from snapping under stress) would be sufficient to allow the Earth's inertia to do the job... or at least give the Moon enough inward momentum before the rotation of the Earth stopped rotating to finish the job. Without the Earth's rotation, there would be nothing to push the Moon back to a higher orbit and eventually gravity would take over.

Do people look at you witha blank stare a lot? Your way makes it sound so easy.

I have nothing to add other then that this was an interesting question.

My question is: how much would the shindig cost?

Originally posted by nixie_nox
I have nothing to add other then that this was an interesting question.

My question is: how much would the shindig cost?

IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW MUCH IT COSTS BECAUSE THE TAXPAYER WILL COVER IT...........AHEM.

Not physically possible. Assuming that we could ever build a tether massive enough and strong enough and somehow move it into position, linking these two incredibly massive spheres would create a bolo effect, interrupting the rotation of the Earth as well as the orbit of the Moon. This would probably shut down Earth's magnetosphere, first of all, exposing us to lethal solar radiation. As if that wasn't enough, the resulting gravitational tidal forces would probably rip both the Moon and Earth apart.

I mean, think about it... Just one link in such a chain would have to be about the size of the state of Alaska. You'd need hundreds of such links to reach the Moon. The raw materials and the technology for such a project simply don't exist (and never will). But, if you could build such a chain, the thing would probably have a mass similar to that of the Moon itself — so the chain would warp space, just as the Earth and Moon warp space, creating its own gravity well. All of these freakish gravitational tidal forces would end up destroying Earth, Moon, and your chain.

Couple of billion years later, the first aliens come cruising through this solar system, and they find this ring of rubble where the Earth and Moon used to be, as well as this gigantic chain tumbling among the debris. The aliens just look at each other and sadly shake their heads: "Poor bastards. They tried the Planetary Winch Experiment."


— Doc Velocity

[edit on 2/22/2009 by Doc Velocity]

Way to take an idea from a game and try to implement it in real world friend.

Infinite Undiscovery much eh?

No it's not possible it would break under the strain and besides if you pulled the moon out of it's orbit this world would most likely end as the Moon controls our tides and without it well.....you do the math.

~Keeper

This is a trippy thread ,

I was just browing through recent posts and i saw this and thought "Thats an interestin question" and now im just spinnin out about it but afterwards we can hold the entire population hostage and demand a ransom of . . .





One Million Dollars ! !

Lol. I like this thread. Humour mixed in with fact. As said somewhere above, kudos to the op for originality of question.

Weight still exists in the form of Inertia. It takes X energy output in direction A to move the object in direction B.

So no, it couldn't work.

Now if you use a thread made of unicorn hair (blessed of course) mono-fillament tied to an anchor in the hollow-earth with 4th dimensional cosmic vibrations to harmonize with the chakras of observers and plant the thread in December of 2012... THEN you might have something more in line with ATS.