Artemis

Artemis is a major figure in ancient Greek religion and myth. She is the goddess of the hunt, wilderness, the Moon, and childbirth, and is typically portrayed as a virgin goddess who protects women and wildlife. Artemis is the daughter of Leto and Zeus and the twin sister of Apollo. She is commonly depicted with a bow and arrows and is often accompanied by a deer or hunting dogs. Her worship was widespread across the Greek world, with significant cult centers at Ephesus, Brauron, and Troezen. In myth, she is powerful and independent, known for safeguarding her vow of virginity, enforcing boundaries, and punishing those who violate them—such as Actaeon, whom she transformed into a stag. Artemis also figures in various local traditions and cults that linked her to lunar cycles and childbirth.

Outside classical myth, Artemis is the name of NASA's lunar exploration program intended to return humans to the Moon and establish a sustainable presence there. The program aims to build on the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System, with international partners from agencies including ESA, JAXA, and CSA. Artemis I was an uncrewed test flight that circumnavigated the Moon in 2022 to validate the integrated system. Artemis II will be the first crewed mission to fly around the Moon, and Artemis III aims to land astronauts on the lunar surface, near the south pole, in the late 2020s or early 2030s. The program envisions broader international cooperation and longer-term exploration beyond the Moon.