The Crew Exploration Vehicle project that is intended to take man to the moon again has a name and logo: Orion.

A proposed logo of the CEV project with the name "Orion" and marked "approved" has been seen in an internal NASA document. Other reports have NASA applying for trademark protection for "Orion." The Orion constellation features on the logo, along with a blue globe and red orbital vector.

This is the latest nomenclature to be associated with NASA's space exploration programs. The entire moonshot project (as well as the Mars exploration mission) is codenamed "Constellation", with Orion associated with the CEV component. "Ares" refers to the launch vehicle family (Ares I being the crew launcher and Ares V the heavy-lift launcher). Prior reports had NASA designating the separate command/service module and moon lander as "Altair" and "Artemis", respectively, until superceded by this report.

NASA is taking on the tried and tested formula of the Apollo program that brought the first humans to the Moon way back in 1969, as they are faced with tight deadlines and uncertain budgets. The team has been ripping apart the Apollo to examine its ancient parts as a reference for the new rocket.

The new manned exploration project, called Constellation, is deliberately drawing upon lessons from the past as the space agency works to meet a congressional deadline of flying the Ares rocket by 2014. In fact, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin has described the new program as "Apollo on steroids."

"We're not inventing rocket engines. This is an evolution," NASA associate administrator Scott Horowitz said during a visit to Marshall, which is in charge of developing propulsion systems for the new spacecraft. "You get the benefits of the heritage, but you also get the benefits of new technology to help drive down costs."

But will history repeat itself?

After sifting through a number of name books for babies born on earth and heaven, doting NASA officials finally settled on a name for their rockest bound for the Moon and Mars: Ares. Ares is the Greek God of War also known as Mars by the Romans.

Ares 1 and Ares 5 are expected to take future astronauts and heavy cargo back to the Moon and beyond. The first unmanned Ares test flight is expected in 2009. Piloted test is set for 2014. Ares 1 will serve as NASA’s Crew Launch Vehicle and will launch the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), a 25-ton capsule-based spacecraft designed to ferry astronauts to the ISS and Moon. Ares 5 will be NASA's Cargo Launch Vehicle capable of boosting a 45-ton lunar lander and a rocket stage to ferry the lander and CEV to the Moon.