by Demand:
Texas US Representative Sheila Jackson Lee referred to the moon as a planet and said: “A full moon is that perfect round circle that’s made up mostly of gas, so the question is why or how could we live as humans. the moon?”
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Context:
Lee’s statements about the moon were wrong. After the brawl, she told X that she was “misreading” and that she “meant to say the sun” when referring to gases.
On April 8, 2024, US Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, spoke at Booker T. Washington High School before the solar eclipse later that day, and made several incorrect statements about the moon, sun and planets .
Various X accounts, including the official @RNCResearch account managed by the Republican National Committee, she shared clips of her speech in which she appeared to say: “A full moon is that complete, rounded circle which is mostly made up of gases, and that’s why the question is why or how that we as humans could. live on the moon? Are the gases so big that we could do that?”
She is also heard calling the moon her planet: “We don’t know yet if you can live on the moon. But I don’t know about you, I want to be the first to know how to live and be able to. to live on the moon – that’s another planet we’ll see soon.”
Democrat Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee: It’s “almost impossible to get close to the sun,” but the moon is “more manageable” because it’s “made mostly of gas” (it’s not)pic.twitter.com/0t8CPI4QzW
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 9, 2024
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee (D):
The moon is “mostly gas” so we can soon live inside it, unlike the sun which is “almost” too hot to go near. pic.twitter.com/bSd9zXcEPo
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 9, 2024
Lee did in fact make the erroneous statements mentioned above, as evidenced by footage from a live stream of the event shared on her own official X account. However, after the eclipse, she posting that she was wrong and intended to say that the sun is made up of gases.
Jackson Lee later admitted don stem gaffe in a post on X, saying that she spoke incorrectly, and she criticized Republicans for focusing on her statement rather than on more important issues: “Obviously I misspoke and meant to say the sun, but as usual, Republicans are focus on stupid things instead. most important things.
Obviously I didn’t speak and I meant to say the sun, but as usual, Republicans are focused on stupid things instead of things that really matter.
What can I say, however, silly thinkers lust for stupidity! https://t.co/ABGxUdRqF6
— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) April 9, 2024
she added that, in her opinion, Republicans “should be focusing on issues like prenatal care, building more affordable housing, and reducing student loan debt more like President Joe Biden.”
The Moon is neither a Planet nor a Gas
The moon is not a planet, but a natural satellite orbiting the Earth. According to NASA’s tally, 293 moons orbit the planets in our solar system: one moon for Earth; two for Mars; 95 for Jupiter; 146 for Saturn; 28 for Uranus; 16 for Neptune; and five for Pluto “dwarf planet”.
Also, the moon is not made up mostly of gas. It is a solid body with a core, mantle, and crust, according to NASA:
The core of the Moon is proportionally smaller than the cores of other terrestrial bodies. The core is solid, rich in iron, 149 miles (240 kilometers) in radius. It is surrounded by a liquid iron shell 56 miles (90 kilometers) thick. A partially molten layer 93 miles (150 kilometers) thick surrounds the iron core.
The mantle extends from the top of the partially molten layer to the bottom of the Moon’s crust. It is probably made of minerals such as olivine and pyroxene, which are composed of magnesium, iron, silicon and oxygen atoms.
The crust is about 43 miles (70 kilometers) thick on the Moon’s near hemisphere and 93 miles (150 kilometers) on the far side. It is made of oxygen, silicon, magnesium, iron, calcium, and aluminum, with small amounts of titanium, uranium, thorium, potassium, and hydrogen.
On the other hand, the sun is a hot ball of glowing gases that astronomers categorize as a yellow dwarf star.
Sources:
“Moon Facts.” NASA, https://science.nasa.gov/moon/facts/. Accessed 10 April 2024.
“Moons.” NASA, https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/moons/. Accessed 10 April 2024.
“Sun.” NASA, https://science.nasa.gov/sun/. Accessed 10 April 2024.
Wehner, Greg. “Sparked Out: Sheila Jackson Lee Tells Texas Student’s ‘Planet’ Moon ‘Made Mostly of Gas.'” Fox News, 9 April 2024, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/spaced-out-sheila-jackson-lee-tells-texas-students-planet-moon-made-gas. Accessed 10 April 2024.
