The space agency is hoping to reach the moon by 2024.
NASA’s planned mission to the moon—which aims to put the first woman on the lunar surface by 2024— has been named Artemis after the ancient Greek goddess who is the daughter of Zeus and Leto.
Artemis is the goddess of the moon, as well as being twin sister of Apollo—whom NASA’s pioneering moon missions in the 1960s and 1970s were named after. Some legends say that she was resonsible for killing the giant huntsman Orion—whom Zeus immortalized in the stars as a constellation—for trying to rape her.
In a budget request published Monday, the space agency said that it needed an additional $1.6 billion dollars for the fiscal year 2020 to meet their accelerated deadline, which was brought forward from 2028 by President Donald Trump in March this year.
Also on Monday, the president proposed that his administration would meet this requirement—in addition to the space agency’s $21.5 billion annual funding allocation—with a new budget amendment, although this is not guaranteed as Congress still has to sign the money off.
“Under my Administration, we are restoring @NASA to greatness and we are going back to the moon, then Mars. I am updating my budget to include an additional $1.6 billion so that we can return to space in a BIG WAY!” Trump tweeted Monday.
NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine welcomed the news, describing it as an investment in the space agency’s future.
“As you know, the president has given our agency the bold charge to land the next man and the first woman on the lunar South Pole by 2024,” Bridenstine said in a video message to NASA staff.
