Why is the moon moving away from Earth and will it escape?

[mee]

I hear that the moon is steadily moving away from the earth. Is it due to the suns gravity? Will it eventually go out of Earth orbit and circle the sun on its own? Would there be any chance of a posssible collision with Earth if this happened or would it leave Earth orbit at its closest approach to the sun if so?

 

[Janus]

We already have a thread dealing with this question:
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=67691