Of course some Americans want to claim coining the term/phrase in 1861, but since even the city of Gouda, NL has known this phrase to be in use since at least the 14th century, it likely has it's origin in Italy and maybe in Greece before that. Many variations of phrases containing "ad astra" exist and could be fun to explore.
From Italy: Moonlight Haze ~ Ad Astra ~ to the stars.
Feel free to ignore this post :)