Who was she? In Greek mythology, Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo and goddess of the moon. The Romans called this goddess Diana, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.
What was her story? She was the daughter of Zeus and Leto -- child of the Titans. In Edith Hamilton's classic, Mythology, Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes, Artemis is described as "lover of the woods and the wild chase over the mountain." As put by Hamilton, "She was the Lady of Wild Things, huntsman in chief to the gods, an odd office for a woman."
Why Artemis? Well, it could be argued that any trip into space is a wild chase. But NASA says the goddess "personifies our path to the moon as the name of NASA's program to return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2024, including the first woman and the next man. When they land, our American astronauts will step foot where no human has ever been before: the moon’s south pole," according to the space agency.
What is the long-term goal? It's not just that NASA wants to go back to the moon. The space agency has ambitious goals. It wants to "uncover new scientific discoveries, demonstrate new technological advancements, and lay the foundation for private companies to build a lunar economy."
Related:
NASA plans return to the moon -- to stay
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