A lunar meteorite found in northwest Africa has been shown to record evidence of an asteroid impact on the Moon 3.5 billion years ago, matching independently dated impacts on Earth and on the asteroid 4 Vesta from the same period, at the moment life on Earth was first taking hold

The first few billion years of Earth’s history are largely inaccessible to direct geological investigation. The surface that recorded the events of the early Hadean and Archean has been almost entirely destroyed, recycled through plate tectonics, eroded by water and wind, buried beneath younger sediment, or melted and reformed in successive cycles of mountain-building and [...] The post A lunar meteorite found in northwest Africa has been shown to record evidence of an asteroid impact on the Moo