Could living on/ mining the moon cause unintended consequences for Earth? e.g. changes in tide or anything else?

Question

Could living on/ mining the moon cause unintended consequences for Earth? e.g. changes in tide or anything else?

In: 248

Answer 1

Consequences? That depends at least partly on how you decide to get the stuff you’ve mined back down to earth. The cheapest way is probably to fling it into space and let earth’s gravity pull it in. The only snag there is that it will be coming in at 25,000 mph and yeah, there will be consequences.

This idea is worked up in more detail in Heinlein’s “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”.