Researchers claim to have found fresh physical evidence that the moon was born in a flaming blaze when a Mars-sized body 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.

Washington researchers said the zinc enrichment probably arose because heavier atoms condensed out of the cloud of vapourised rock quicker than lighter ones.