At 1.5 inches of lunar drift per year, the Moon moves exactly one "Average American Male Equipment" (5.5in) away from Earth every 3.6 years

I was bored as hell and went down a Wikipedia rabbit hole today...

The Moon drifts away from Earth at 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) per year. The average "male equipment" in the US is roughly 5.5 inches (14 cm).

So, 5.5 / 1.5 = 3.66. This means every 3.6 years, the Moon officially gains one full average unit of distance from us. We are literally losing the Moon, one... uh... "personal length" at a time.

Is my math right or did I miss some orbital variable??

Since the reference media is American, should we add more variables to the equation? How do I calculate a median value to be sure about the drift?? For science, of course.

Posted Apr 24, 2026, 8:20 PM UTC

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