Ad astra is a Latin phrase meaning "to the stars". The phrase has origins with Virgil, who wrote sic itur ad astra ("thus one journeys to the stars", from Aeneid book IX, line 641, spoken by Apollo to Aeneas's young son Iulus) and opta ardua pennis astra sequi, ("desire to pursue the high (or hard to reach) stars on wings" book XII, lines 892–893, spoken by Aeneas to his foe Turnus in their combat). Another origin is Seneca the Younger, who wrote non est ad astra mollis e terris via ("there is no easy way from the earth to the stars", Hercules Furens, line 437, spoken by Megara, Hercules' wife).
It is used as, or as part of, the motto of many organizations, most prominently, many air forces. It has also been adopted as a proper name for various unrelated things (publications, bands, games, etc.). It also sees general use as a popular Latin tag.
Ad Astra Rocket Company, Webster, Texas, United States
Ardrossan Academy, North Ayrshire, Scotland
Motto of Astor family
Birrong Girls High School, Australia
Elgin Academy, Scotland
Innova Junior College, Singapore
Miami Central High School, United States
Phi Gamma Delta, United States and Canada
Presbyterian Ladies' College, Armidale, Australia
Ruamrudee International School, Thailand
Slough Grammar School in Berkshire, England
Sutherland High School, South Africa
United States Air Force Academy Class of 2007
United States Coast Guard Academy Class of 1992
University College Dublin, Ireland
USS Taurus (PHM-3)
St. Joseph's Anglo-Chinese School, Hong Kong
San Miguel, High School, Honduras
Takoma Park Middle School, United States
"to the stars on the wings of the faithful ones"
"to the stars on the wings of a pig"
Motto on John Steinbeck's personal stamp, featuring a figure of the Pigasus
Motto of the O'Fallon Township Marching Panthers
Title of Chris Thile's Mandolin Concerto.
"to the stars through difficulties" or commonly translated "a rough road leads to the stars"
Kansas (U.S. state) and Seal of Kansas
Albury High School in Albury, New South Wales, Australia
Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina
Coventry High School, Coventry, Rhode Island
Dr Challoner's Grammar School in Buckinghamshire, England
Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Aeronáuticos, in Madrid, Spain
Grupo 5 de Caza, a fighter/bomber squadron of the Fuerza Aerea Argentina (Argentine Air Force)
Harry Crosby, Jazz Age celebrity and literary patron
Immaculate Conception High School in St.Andrew, Kingston Jamaica, Jamaica, West Indies
Miami Central Senior High School in Miami, Florida
Milwaukee High School of the Arts in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Mirman School in Los Angeles, California
Morristown-Beard School in Morristown, New Jersey
Mount Alvernia High School in Montego Bay, Jamaica, West Indies
Mount Saint Michael Academy in The Bronx, New York
Pauls Valley High School in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma
Rosevale School in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines
Satellite High School in Satellite Beach, Florida (a small township with close ties to nearby Cape Canaveral)
Starfleet, the fictional organization in the Star Trek universe
Woodville High School, South Australia
Song by rock band Acceptance
South African Air Force
Apollo 1 memorial placed at Launch Complex 34
Rotorua Boys' High School, in Rotorua, New Zealand
Erasmus hall campus school of Law, in Brooklyn, New York
"not for money, for discovering knowledge, approach the heavens"
Copenhagen Suborbitals, Copenhagen, Denmark
"through struggle (or adversity) to the stars" or sometimes even "a rough road leads to the stars"
Royal Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal Flying Corps
Royal New Zealand Air Force
Colombian Air Force
Trondheim Katedralskole, cathedral school in Trondheim, Norway
Stavanger Katedralskole, cathedral school in Stavanger, Norway
California State University, East Bay, California State University
Cornelia Strong College, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Lady Hardinge Medical College,New Delhi
"Through hardships to the stars", "A rough road leads to the stars" or "To the stars through difficulties". Used by various organizations and groups.
Gouda, a city in the Netherlands
Pall Mall (cigarette)
Queenwood School for Girls, Sydney, Australia
Saint Patrick's High School, Karachi
South African Air Force
Stevens Institute of Technology
Hyuk (singer)
"Through boldness to the stars"
Bungie, Inc
"from grass to the stars"
"speedily to the stars"
Chilean Air Force
"thus one goes to the stars"
The Canongate, Edinburgh
Detroit, Michigan public schools
Richmond, Virginia (city)
St. Andrew's Scots School, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires province, Argentina (daughter institution of St. Andrew's Scots School)
Argentine Air Force, Materiel Command, Argentina
"Sigitur ad astra" - in the official crest of The Geelong College, Australia
The Philomathean Society of the University of Pennsylvania
Canadian Forces Air Command
Colombian Air Force
Alice Smith School, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Jean-Pierre Blanchard the first human to cross the English channel, by air.
Sarnia Collegiate Institute and Technical School, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
"such is the pathway to the stars"
The Montgolfier family was given this motto when elevated to nobility by King Louis XVI of France.
Royal Canadian Air Force
"a path to the stars"
St. Andrew's Scots School, Buenos Aires, Argentina
"reach for the stars"
The Hertfordshire and Essex High School, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England
Falcon College, Zimbabwe
A related phrase, ex astris ("from the stars"), is used frequently in NASA publications and in science fiction - see Ex astris, scientia.
There was a 1984 computer game called Ad Astra which was an outer space shoot-em-up with a 3-D perspective.
It is also a title of a William Faulkner short story - see Collected Stories of William Faulkner: New York: Vintage International.
Ad Astra is the title of a board game set in space published in 2009 and designed by Bruno Faidutti and Serge Laget.
The Free State Brewing Company in Lawrence, KS, brews a beer called "Ad Astra Ale" after the Kansas motto "Ad Astra per Aspera".
Ad Astra is a public artwork by American artist Richard Lippold. Lippold's sculpture is located outside on the Jefferson Drive entrance of and in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum.
