Victoria Nedoff, age 11, of Costa Mesa, California, for her question:

What does Gemini mean?

Our Gemini spacecraft was designed to carry two astronauts. The original Gemini was a pair of twins, famous in the days of ancient Rome. 'the outstanding young men were named Castor and Pollux, and they were expert horsemen and champion chariot racers. Castor was renowned as a tamer of frisky horses. Pollux was an unbeatable boxer and both young men were star performers in the athletic games of the day. They were so remarkable that people thought of them as superhuman. The legend arose that they were really the twin sons of the great god Zeus and a lady named Leda.

Another legend claimed that the young men were so heartbroken when Julius Caesar was killed that they begged Zeus to end their lives also. Zeus, they say, responded to this request by turning them into a pair of stars. In any case, the spring oonstellation Gemini was named in their honor, and its two brightest stars are named Castor and Pollux.