The steps begin by setting the clock to zero and R to its present value of 384,400 km. Then time is stepped backwards in small increments until the Moon crashes into the Earth. The QuickBasic program that solves this system of equations is shown in the box on page 325 . The answer is 1.2 billion years. Two complicated effects were neglected which would further reduce this upper limit for the Moon's age.
Evolutionists believe Earth formed by gravitational accretion of smaller bodies.
If so, the impacts would have left a molten Earth. The Earth, throughout its history, would have been less rigid than it is today. The tidal bulges would have been larger, causing the Moon to spiral away from the Earth even faster than we calculated here. Internal friction from tidal stretching of the solid Earth reduces Earth's spin velocity. This would have been especially severe if the Earth had been less rigid in the past.