What if the moon fell on us?

Unable to fall back to sleep a few nights ago, while a timid moonshine ray was filtering into the bedroom, I was wondering if it might be at all possible that the moon – one day – change its mind and either looses it orbit elevation and crash back on to earth.

I thought about it, because I knew it could potentially happen to artificial satellites. This certainly does, because of some amount of atmospheric drag that could gradually slow down the satellite and cause its orbit to change. 

As the satellite loses altitude, it may eventually reenter Earth's atmosphere and burn up or crash. That could also be caused from solar radiation pressure on large, lightweight satellites that can cause them to gradually drift away from their intended orbit. 

Mechanical or technical failures can also create similar problems and so can collisions with space debris. As a result, satellite operators have to perform regular orbit maintenance maneuvers, using onboard propulsion systems, to counteract any drag or drift. 

So when I researched the likelihood of the moon crashing on us, I learned that our natural satellite is relatively stable and does not typically change drastically. It is thus highly unlikely that our moon will crash on us, or conversely, escape its gravitational attraction without external influences. 

This might however, happen in the very long term, under gravitational influence of other celestial bodies, tidal forces from the Sun, or a gradual transfer of angular momentum from the Earth to the Moon due to tidal interactions. 

We’re talking there about very slow changes in the moon's orbit, I’m told, as we are talking about millions to billions of years. So, I won’t worry too much for me, my kids and their posterity, and that probably is why I quickly returned to sleep after that almost lunatic thought (pun intended) crossed my mind!