Asteroid breakup may have sparked an 800-million-year bombardment across Earth, Moon, and Mars
A Southwest Research Institute-led study links the breakup of the Eulalia parent body in the main asteroid belt to a long-lasting bombardment of the inner solar system about 800 million years ago, producing a spike in Moon impacts and possibly influencing Earth's climate and biosphere and Mars’ geology. The mechanism involves fragments entering Jupiter’s 3:1 resonance and later migrating via the Yarkovsky effect, with Apollo impact glass and crater-age data supporting the link; while not yet proving causation, this scenario shows how a single collision could affect multiple worlds.