Creationists cite the depth of accumulated dust on the moon's surface as proof that the moon originated about 8000 B.C.E., although the moon is commonly thought to be about 4 billion years old. The argument goes like this: the moon is continuously struck by micrometeorites, tiny bits of dust shooting through space. With no atmosphere and a rarely disturbed surface, a fine layer of dust accumulates. If the layer were deep, this would show an old moon and early formation, but since the layer is slight, this proves a recent creation.
This argument relies on estimates of dust accumulation made by scientists R. A. Lyttleton in 1956 and Hans Petterson in 1960. According to their estimates, if the moon were billions of years old, dust at least 100 feet deep would have accumulated on the surface of the moon, too deep for moon landings. Creationists say there was a fear that landing craft would be swallowed in dust. But Lyttleton's and Petterson's estimates were not accepted by all of the scientific community during their time, and are not now. Other estimates made by contemporaries of Lyttleton and Petterson predicted that the moon's surface would be firm with only a thin dust layer. These predictions were confirmed when astronauts observed the surface of the moon first hand. Direct measurements of accumulating dust show that a very tiny amount of dust accumulates on the moon, at a rate of merely centimeters over billions of years. Creationists, however, have not included this finding in their argument, presumably because it does not support their preconceived notions.
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