What can possibly go on between Earth and Moon at this distance?
The distance between Earth's center and Moon's center is 384403 kilometers (238856.950 miles). With no atmosphere, weak gravity and no life on it, Moon seems like a floating dead rock to us. It's like time has stopped on it, everything remains in it's place for decades. Who knows how long Neil Armstrong's footprints will stay there? Unless some freaky alien guys mess them up and steal the American flag, that is. On the other hand, the flag may have been blown away by the blast of the astronauts ascending back into space. We'll know in the following decades, i suppose, as NASA is planning to return man to the Moon, maybe even establish an outpost there. But, back on topic, how does Earth affect Moon at this huge distance? The phenomenon is called "MAGNETOTAIL".
In the above picture you can see the whole Earth's magnetosphere. The magnetotail is the right side of the ovally-shaped magnetic field. Believe it or not, it influences objects even beyond the Moon. You probably already know that Earth's magnetic field comes from a molten dynamo right at the planet's core. What you may not know, however, is that the magnetic field extends way into space, but is blown away by powerful rays. If i understood correctly, the magnetotail appears in the form of an oval because the plasma streaming from the Sun at a 400km/s speed kind of shapes it in this way. Like blowing on a burning candle, the flame will lean towards the direction you are blowing. Sort of the same, yet really different.
So, if the magnetotail is shaped like an oval, the Moon passes through it once in a while. Three days before it's full, to be exact, and it takes it six days to exit. During that period, a lot of crazy ( for a dead planet) things can happen. Electrons from the magnetotail give the Moon a negative charge. During daytime UV photons (coming from the Sun) keep electron levels to a minimum, but when it gets dark, the electrons accumulate. If an astronaut were to walk on the Moon during this period, he would gather a lot of charge. Any sudden discharge would be unpleasant, to say the least. The electrons can also push Moon dust away from the surface, making things foggy for astronauts. And as if that wasn't enough, the dust could start flying from the negatively charged night-side to the weakly-negative day-side, causing a moondust-storm.
Much of this is speculation, because no-one has been on the Moon during a magnetotail period. But with all these phenomenons, like dust storms, floating objects and electrically-charged people (like tesla troopers from red alert 2), who would want to try? NASA will have to look into this if they want to set up an outpost on the Moon. Wouldn't want the equipment flying away into the abyss because of electrons, would you?