Short Wave SPACE WEEK: Every Moon, Ranked
Sep 1, 2020
Science writer Jennifer Leman, known for her moon rankings for Popular Mechanics, joins host Maddie Sofia to discuss all 158 moons in our solar system. Leman reveals her personal favorites and shares intriguing insights gleaned from NASA scientists. They explore unique moons like Ganymede, Triton, and Enceladus, debating their standout features. The conversation also highlights a NASA mission to Diddy Moon and touches on the possibility of undiscovered moons, all while keeping the tone light and entertaining.
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Moon Facts at the Coffee Shop
- Jennifer Leman frequented coffee shops while ranking moons.
- She entertained baristas with moon facts during her research.
Provisional Moons and Undiscovered Moons
- Not all moons are official; some are "provisional."
- Scientists believe many more undiscovered moons exist.
Didymoon and the DART Mission
- Didymoon orbits an asteroid, not a planet.
- It's the target of the DART mission, a test for deflecting hazardous space objects.