Moon rock ties 3.5-billion-year bombardment across Moon, Earth, and Vesta to life’s dawn
A lunar meteorite found in NW Africa (NWA 12593) records three Moon impacts around 3.486 billion years ago, including a high-temperature melt event. Its age matches the oldest Earth spherule beds and the 4 Vesta eucrite record, suggesting a shared inner-Solar-System bombardment from a large asteroid breakup. This debris wave coincides with the period when life was first emerging on Earth, though a direct causal link remains debated.