NASA’s initiative to put a woman on the Moon is named Artemis, after Apollo’s twin sister

That's one small step for women, one giant leap for women-kind

This year marks the 50th Anniversary of NASA putting the first man on the moon. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to step on the moon. "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

Now NASA’s has ambitious plan to put the first woman on the surface of the Moon by 2024 is now named Artemis, after the Greek goddess of the Moon and twin sister of the god Apollo. NASA’s Apollo program famously put the first men on the surface of the Moon in the 1960 and 70s, but now that NASA is focusing on putting a woman on the Moon, the goddess gets the top billing.

“The first woman will be an American on the surface of the moon in five years,” NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said in April during the Space Symposium conference in Colorado Springs. “That is an extreme declaration and a charge that we are going to live up to at NASA.”

NASA’s Artemis program is still very much in its infancy. While NASA has been developing a rocket and crew capsule to take people into deep space, those vehicles still have yet to actually carry any astronauts. Additionally, NASA still needs to develop a lot of new hardware, including new lunar landers, in order for this project to be a success. Plus, the space agency still needs to get Congress’s approval for the program’s budget.

So while, the program does have a cool name, there’s still a long way to go before Artemis can actually deliver.