Star Chart
Since satellite monitoring of atmospheric nuclear testing was
originally a classified program, the Department of Defense assigned
it a code name, "Vela."
Prior to the 1750s, astronomers had identified a huge constellation,
Argo Navis. It represented Argo, the mythological ship used by Jason
and the Argonauts in their quest for the golden fleece. In the 1750s,
a French astronomer subdivided Argo Navis into several smaller constellations,
one of which was Vela (the sails of the ship).
The intriguing explanation that the name Vela might have come from
the Spanish verb velar -- to maintain a night watch or vigil
-- is incorrect.
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