AnnIn form of Artemis I Moon rocket launched morning of November 16, 2022, after several delays earlier this year. This is the first flight without a crew and is expected to last four to six weeks. The objective of the program is to increase the participation of women in space exploration. 30% of its engineers are women, In addition, the Artemis I mission is carrying two mannequins designed to study the effects radiation on women So that NASA can learn to better protect female astronauts.
Female astronauts are currently less likely to be selected for missions than men because their bodies clash with NASA maximum permissible limit of radiation Earlier NASA hopes to put the first woman and person of color on the Moon Artemis III Sometime after 2024.
As a scholar of greek mythologyI find the name of the mission quite evocative: Greeks and Romans pair Artemis with the moonAnd she has also become a modern feminist icon.
Artemis was a major deity in ancient Greece, worshiped at least as far back as antiquity early 1st millennium BCE, or even earlier, She was the daughter of Zeus, the chief god of the Olympians, who ruled the world from the summit of Mount Olympus. She was also the twin sister of the sun god Apollo and was an oracle.
Artemis was the virgin goddess of the woods and the hunt. Their independence and strength has long inspired women to take up a variety of activities. For example, in the poem titled “Artemis,” Author Allison Eer Jenks Emphasizing women’s independence and autonomy, she writes: “I am no longer your god-mother … your chef, your bus-stop, your therapist, your junk-drawer.”
Artemis, as the goddess of animals and the forest, has also inspired environmental protection programIn which the goddess is seen as an example of a woman exercising her power by taking care of the planet.
However, while the Greek Artemis was strong and courageous, she was not always kind and caring, even towards women. his impudence was used to convince one accidental death of womanEspecially while giving birth. This form of the goddess has faded with time. With the rise of feminism, Artemis has become a symbol of feminine power and self-reliance.
NASA has a long history Naming your missions after mythological characters. Beginning in the 1950s, many rockets and launch systems were named after Greek sky deities, such as Atlas And saturnWhose Greek name is Cronos.
Atlas and Saturn weren’t just gods, they were titans. In Greek mythology, the Titans represent indomitable, primordial forces of nature, and so they invoke the prodigious vastness of space exploration. Although the Titans were known for their immense strength and power, they were also rebellious and dangerous and were eventually defeated by the Olympians, who represent civilization in Greek mythology.
After the advent of human space flight, NASA began naming missions after the children of Zeus who are associated with the sky. mercury programActive from 1958 to 1963, was named after the Roman counterpart of Hermes, the messenger god who flies between Olympus, Earth and the Underworld with his winged sandals.
started in 1963, three years long Gemini program A capsule designed for two astronauts was featured and named after the twin sons of Zeus – Castor and Pollux, known in Greek as the Dioscuri – who were known to travel among the stars. constellation of gemini, He was regularly represented with a star above his head in Greek and Roman art.
space shuttle programwhich ran from 1981 to 2011, moving away from the legendary monikers, and were named Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavor to create a sense of innovation.
With Artemis, NASA is nodding back apollo programWhich ran from 1963 to 1972 and took the first man to the moon in 1969. After more than 50 years, Artemis superseded its twin brother, ushering in a more diverse era of human space flight.
is an Associate Professor of Classical Studies, Tufts University.
This piece has been updated to include the launch date.
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