NASA closing in on naming new fleet

[Bob B.]

(EXCERPT)

Sources have revealed the latest list of the names NASA has given to its new fleet, with a Greek goddess, a Roman mythological god, and a near-by star winning through as the identities of the new ships that will send America back to the moon and on to Mars.

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A huge step up from NASA administrator Mike Griffin's 'Apollo on steroids' tag, the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) has been christened 'Altair' - named after a variable double star in the constellation Aquila.

Homage is made to the Apollo vehicles, with Altair rooting from the Arabic phrase 'the flying Eagle.'

Greek mythology comes into play for the LSAM (Lunar Surface Ascent Module), which receives the name 'Artemis' - the virgin goddess of the hunt and the moon. Fittingly, Artemis is also the twin sister of Apollo.

Artemis is also a small lunar impact crater located in the Mare Imbrium region of the moon.

The Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV) gains the name 'Ares I' - as NASA's name choices move into a historical parallel with the previous launch vehicles to take astronauts to the moon.

In Greek mythology, Ares is the Greek god of war; son of Zeus and Hera, but more relevantly, Ares is identified with Mars in Roman mythology. ARES is also the name of a Mars Scout mission, proposed by NASA Langley Flight Research Center.

The relation to the launch vehicles of old became more apparent when the naming of the CaLV (Cargo Launch Vehicle) was revealed to be 'Ares V' - with sources claiming this was a direct result of wishing to have an identification with the Saturn V.

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FULL STORY:  NASA closing in on naming new fleet

[ijuin]

This is old news--it was on a thread in the CEV forum two months ago.

[Satanic Mechanic]

Ares - brother of Apollo... sounds like that Baxter novel, Voyage.  They also used an updated Apollo in the novel.

SM

[Bob B.]

This is old news--it was on a thread in the CEV forum two months ago.

Yeah... the article I linked to is a month old.  I hadn't seen any mention of the names here in this forum so I wasn't sure if everyone had heard them.

[LunarOrbit]

It's new to me.

[ijuin]

I think that the "Ares" series name for the Shuttle-derived launch vehicles is an allusion to Robert Zubrin's Mars Direct plan, in which he dubs his proposed 80-ton trans-Mars capacity Shuttle-derived launcher "Ares". The "1" and "5" would be a reflection of the number of engines on the first stage.

[jdbenner]

Zubrin's Ares launch vehicle was intended to reach mars thus the name.

[win98]

New to me to.

[ijuin]

Yes, and given that it was the most familiar vertically-stacked Shuttle-derived heavy lifter, they probably decided to keep the name.