[Jack Hydrazine]

"...The Orion spaceship is almost a carbon copy of the Apollo spacecraft."

Here's the Project Apollo patch/logo. See anything familiar?

[Windflier]

Interesting that the Apollo mission patch featured the constellation Orion. What on earth did that star group have to do with the moon landings?

[geomechanic]

I attended a lecture in ‘66 or ‘67 on celestial navigation at UNC given by a NASA scientist. If I remember correctly the astronauts were taught to use the constellation Orion to assist in navigation if the guidance platforms failed during a mission in space. Orion was selected since it was brightest and most recognizable constellation (according to the lecturer). I suspect this might be the reason for Orion’s presence on the Apollo mission patch.