Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

NASA Names New Spacecraft 'Altair'

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the what's-in-a-name dept.

simonbp writes "NASA's new spacecraft, designed to travel to the Moon and International Space Station, has been christened 'Altair' - 'named after a variable double star in the constellation Aquila.' The crew launch vehicle will be called 'Ares I'; the larger cargo vehicle, 'Ares V'; and the lunar landers will be named after Artemis, the Greek goddess of the Moon and twin sister of Apollo."

4 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. Gives it away what this is about by Flying+pig · · Score: 3, Insightful
    The crew vehicle is named after the god of war. I always suspected that, deep down, the only interest of the current administration in space is as a way of increasing US military dominance.

    That, or NASA is illiterate in the classics. Which I doubt.

    But why a variable star? Is that because they expect the program to expand and contract according to the budget, stories on slow news days etc.?

    The whole thing about the inflation of names relating to space is more than a little childish. Calling people who barely got out of the Earth's atmosphere "Astronauts" and "Cosmonauts" is a bit like calling a dinghy sailor "Admiral".

    --
    Pining for the fjords
    1. Re:Gives it away what this is about by lorelorn · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Given that Ares, the Greek war god, became the Roman god Mars, I figured the name was an indication of where they would really like to be sending people.

  2. Bad naming scheme guys... by Firewheels · · Score: 2, Insightful

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

    NEVER ever name a spacecraft after something resulting after a crash...

  3. how about engineering specification? by helioquake · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Who gives a flying fark about the name?

    How about the specification of the vehicle, instead?