Has the Mystery of How the Moon Formed Been Solved? Analysis of Apollo Rocks Finds Telltale Signs of Massive Impact When a Body the Size of Mars Hit Earth
Researchers claim to have found fresh physical evidence the Moon was created when a body the size of Mars smashed into the early Earth in a cataclysmic collision. Analysis of lunar rocks brought back by the Apollo missions shows they have heavier forms of zinc – a telltale sign of the impact billions of years ago. Without the Moon there may have been no life on Earth because it once orbited much closer to us than it does now causing massive tides to ebb and flow every few hours. These tides caused dramatic fluctuations in salinity around coastlines which are believed to have driven the evolution of primitive DNA-like biomolecules. Planetary scientist Dr Frederic Moynier says the zinc enrichment probably arose because heavier atoms condensed out of the cloud of vaporized rock quicker than lighter onces. His researchers analysed 20 samples of Moon rocks including ones from the Apollo 11, 12, 15 and 17 missions – all of which went to different locations – and one lunar meteorite. Dr Moynier, of Washington University in St Louis, said: 'What we wanted were the basalts because they’re the ones that came from inside the Moon and would be more representative of the Moon’s composition.' Scientists have been looking for this kind of sorting by mass – called isotopic fractionation – since the Apollo missions first brought Moon rocks to Earth in the 1970s. October 18, 2012
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