(TNS) — Astronomers have determined that our nearest neighbor is gradually inching away from us.

The Weather Channel reports that the Earth’s moon is moving further away from our planet, albeit at an extremely slow pace.

NASA scientists have found that our natural satellite is inching away, literally: using lasers as a measurement system, the moon is drifting away at a rate of only 1.5 inches per year.

That means the distance between the Earth and the moon is increasing “at the rate that fingernails grow,” according to this NASA study conducted over the course of roughly 50 years.

And believe it or not, that shift is being felt on Earth. The growing distance means that our planet’s spinning is slowing ever so slightly, leading to a day on Earth being one millisecond longer every 100 years.

And if you’re worried about our beloved moon eventually moving far enough away from us to escape its orbit around the Earth? Don’t be.

Theoretically, it could happen, given enough time. But as we’re talking a span of billions of years, both the Earth and the moon will be gone long before then.

That’s because in about five billion years, the sun expands into its red giant phase, and envelop the inner planets of the solar system. So no matter what, the Earth and the moon will be together in the end!