... Bad Astronomy . ... Every few months, one of a series of questions comes up on the USENET group sci.astro involving tides, or the rotation of the Moon, or the recession of the Moon from the Earth. ... Why the Moon's rotation period is the same as the length of time it takes to orbit the Earth (same as number 1, but phrased differently). ... But when this happens, the time it takes for the Earth to rotate once will be slowed to exactly the same time it takes for the Moon to go around the Earth once! ...