As you read these words there is a small crew of four astronauts flying towards the moon.
The plan is that they will orbit the moon (travelling further from Earth than any human beings have done before—some 250,000 miles from Earth) and then return.
This is all part of the NASA plan to build a moon base which will be permanently inhabited by astronauts (much as the international space station currently is—but much larger and further away).
The rocket on which this mission was launched is called the Artemis II and the space capsule (although I prefer to call it a ‘spaceship’—the term I used in my childhood) is called Orion.
So, this probably a good time to look at the origin of those two words.
Firstly, the rocket: Artemis is the name of a Greek moon goddess often portrayed as a virgin huntress.
Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto and the twin sister of Apollo.
Among the rural populace of ancient Greece, Artemis was the favourite goddess.
Her character and function varied greatly from place to place, but behind all forms lay the goddess of wild nature, who danced, usually accompanied by nymphs, in mountains, forests, and marshes.
So, a wild name for a wild ride on a giant rocket!
Now—Orion.
This is the name of a major star constellation lying on the celestial equator, at the edge of the Milky Way, which is interpreted as looking like a hunter with a belt and sword.
The constellation took its name from ‘Orion’ one of the Giants of Greek mythology, a mighty hunter, killed by Artemis.
The risings and settings of the constellation Orion were associated with stormy weather.
So, lots of Ancient Greek mythology in those names.
And perhaps this mission is of mythological proportions!
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The latest issue of Australian Geographic is now at newsagents -- with a big beaked kookaburra on the front cover, and inside my two small columns on 'Ozwords' and 'Placenames.'
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* My latest book is called Pray Like This. To look at prayer I do what I do in these Ozword columns: I go through the most famous prayer in the world (The Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father) and unpack it word by word—each chapter being a short word-study on a key word in that prayer. There is a total of 21 words studies in all. To find out more, here’s a link to the publisher’s website (where you can buy a copy if you wish): Pray Like This – matthiasmedia.com.au
* My book is Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries -- containing 50 new stories I have written about the great detective. You can find it on Amazon. Just go to Amazon and type in Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries in the search panel. Or use this link: h Amazon.com.au : Sherlock Holmes 5-Minute Mysteries Kel Richards
* My book "Defending the Gospel" is now in a second, fully revised, edition. You can find it here: Defending the Gospel – matthiasmedia.com.au
* If you're looking for my recent book "Flash Jim" you'll find it here -- Flash Jim, The astonis
hing story of the convict fraudster who wrote Australia's first dictionary by Kel Richards | 9781460759769 | Booktopia
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* Many of Kel's out of print books can be found at ABE Books -- Kel Richards - AbeBooks explaining words explain the term
BY THE WAY...
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
The liveliest part of this website is usually the Q and A page -- be sure to check it out from time to time.
