NASA on Friday named its new lunar spacecraft Ares 1 and Ares 5, using a Greek word for Mars, the planet where the space agency eventually hopes to land astronauts.

NASA chose Ares (pronounced AIR-eez) over hundreds of other proposed names, rejecting choices that included constellations and figures from ancient mythology.

But two mythology experts questioned whether officials had erred and inadvertently named the ships for a Greek god of war, rather than the Roman term for the Red Planet.

"Ares is a name that is used to refer to Mars, and it connects to our vision to go to the moon and on to Mars," NASA exploration chief Scott Horowitz said at a Cape Canaveral news conference.