| | The Moon currently recedes from the Earth at a rate of 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) per year<ref>NASA [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEhelp/ApolloLaser.html Measuring the Moon's Distance], ''LPI Bulletin'', No. 72, August 1994.</ref> and is believed by [[atheist]]ic scientists to be 4.6 billion years old,<ref>NASA, [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-350/ch-15-2.html Apollo Expeditions to the Moon], Chapter 15.2.</ref> but that is contradicted by an extrapolation backward in time using its observed rate of recession. | | The Moon currently recedes from the Earth at a rate of 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) per year<ref>NASA [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEhelp/ApolloLaser.html Measuring the Moon's Distance], ''LPI Bulletin'', No. 72, August 1994.</ref> and is believed by [[atheist]]ic scientists to be 4.6 billion years old,<ref>NASA, [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-350/ch-15-2.html Apollo Expeditions to the Moon], Chapter 15.2.</ref> but that is contradicted by an extrapolation backward in time using its observed rate of recession. |
| − | The Moon could never have been closer than about 11,000 miles, or it would have been broken up by tidal forces, supporting that it only formed one distinct mass outside of that region.<ref name="js">Sarfati, Jonathan (September 1998). [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/764/ "The moon: the light that rules the night".] ''Creation Ex Nihilo'' (Brisbane, QL, Australia: Answers in Genesis), vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 36–9. Reprinted at Creation.com website.</ref> If the rate of recession stayed constant at 3.8 cm per year, it would take 9.6 billion years for the lunar distance to migrate from 11,000 miles to the present distance of about 240,000 miles. However, a further principle would be needed to show the rate of recession would have been constant over the hypothetical 9.6-billion-year period. | + | The Moon could never have been closer than about 11,000 miles, or it would have been broken up by tidal forces.<ref name="js">Sarfati, Jonathan (September 1998). [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/764/ "The moon: the light that rules the night".] ''Creation Ex Nihilo'' (Brisbane, QL, Australia: Answers in Genesis), vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 36–9. Reprinted at Creation.com website.</ref> If the rate of recession stayed constant at 3.8 cm per year, it would take 9.6 billion years for the lunar distance to migrate from 11,000 miles to the present distance of about 240,000 miles. However, a further principle would be needed to show the rate of recession would have been constant over the hypothetical 9.6-billion-year period. |