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Author
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Topic: Sunglasses and eyeglasses in space
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Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 05-22-2006 11:08 AM
   
Randolph engineering sunglasses were worn since the Gemini-era by NASA crews.Silhouette 'Titan Minimal Art Space' glasses are worn by astronauts on shuttle missions. These glasses are Austrian-made and don't even have little screws to hold everything together. Each astronaut got five of those!
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ilbasso
Member Posts: 1522
From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 05-22-2006 12:52 PM
I like this picture of John Phillips on Expedition 11 - between the granny glasses, the gray hair, moustache, and puffy face from weightlessness, this shot makes it look like Wilford Brimley is taking a spacewalk! |
ejectr
Member Posts: 1751
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 05-22-2006 07:50 PM
Hmm.... funny that American Optical (AO) advertises that Apollo 11 wore their "Original Pilot" sunglasses to the moon if Randolph claims to have been the supplier since the Gemini days.Personally, I was issued a pair of AO's by the Navy in 1969. |
Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 06-06-2006 04:24 PM
Well, were those straight ear-bars sunglasses Randolph or Ray-Ban or AO... is there a website anywhere which could clear this out? |
ejectr
Member Posts: 1751
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 06-06-2006 05:44 PM
Mine were paddle temple AO. AO claims that Apollo 11 took their original pilot model to the moon as this ad states: In fact, the Original Pilot Sunglass was honored to be the first ever sunglass to be brought up to the moon with the crew of the "Eagle" lunar landing in 1969. It was subsequently featured in the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC. I believe theirs were also paddle temple. |
Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 06-14-2006 11:13 AM
The design of American Optical's and Randolph Engineering's aviator sunglasses certainly almost look the same. |
ejectr
Member Posts: 1751
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 06-14-2006 12:55 PM
Randolph since 1982... not in the '60's.Also, Navy pilots have a directive NOT to wear anything but AO glasses because of the natural light lens. If anything else is used under their pull down sun shield on their helmet and looking through a tinted canopy, loss of visual acuity will occur due to the several layers of shading and polarization. I'll email my son at Edwards AFB and see what he was issued. |
ejectr
Member Posts: 1751
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 06-14-2006 08:20 PM
From my son at Edwards AFB: Randolph Engineering makes them for the Air Force, I don't know about the Navy. I actually don't have AF issue sunglasses, I just use the visor. |
Lou Chinal
Member Posts: 1306
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007
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posted 04-21-2008 03:00 PM
The American Optical sun glasses that Mike Collins wore on Apollo 11 are still on display at the National Air and Space Museum. They are the same type I was given. |
GeminiXII
Member Posts: 63
From: Georgia
Registered: Dec 2006
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posted 10-21-2008 07:09 PM
I was fortunate to bid on and win Jim Lovell's glasses case from the Apollo 13 flight and was wondering if anyone knew exactly where he may have carried them. The Apollo 13 stowage list states that it was "on" the astronaut. |
spaced out
Member Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 10-23-2008 07:57 AM
The sunglasses were carried in a dedicated pocket on the upper right arm of the A7L space suit, and on the inflight coveralls.By the way, I must ask the obvious question with regards the case you bought... just where the heck are Jim's sunglasses? |
GeminiXII
Member Posts: 63
From: Georgia
Registered: Dec 2006
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posted 10-30-2008 04:57 PM
I wrote Jim Lovell and inquired about the whereabouts of the sunglasses. You were exactly correct about where the glasses case was stowed. Lovell stated that it was too bad that he didn't keep the glasses but he didn't specify exactly where they ended up. He stated that he transferred the case to his inflight suit and that only when the sun was in the vicinity of the window did he ever wear his sunglasses. I guess we may never know where they ended up. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 08-16-2010 11:24 AM
SciAm: Space Spectacles: NASA Evaluates Adjustable Astronaut Eyewear NASA is evaluating a new type of adjustable eyeglass lens called TruFocals for use during training and on missions. For the past six months NASA has been taking TruFocals (made by Van Nuys, Calif.–based Zoom Focus Eyewear, LLC) through a detailed certification process to ensure they are not only a better option than other types of eyeglasses but that the materials used to make them will not pose a hazard to astronauts in their enclosed work environs, says C. Robert Gibson, a senior optometrist at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. |
spacefan JC
Member Posts: 86
From: UK
Registered: Jun 2010
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posted 08-31-2011 10:26 AM
I have just ordered a pair of American Optical Original Pilot sunglasses, in silver with grey lenses. I understand these were used in Apollo (as shown by Collins' in NASM) and they changed to Randolph in 1982. Can't wait for them to arrive to have a pair of sunglasses as issued by NASA for Apollo. Crew cut and chinos now to complete the look... Just need a beta cloth case!!!! |
Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 04-01-2013 09:42 AM
At the little museum of the NASA DSN Tidbinbilla near Canberra, Australia, I noticed a display entitled "Aussie Eyes in space" about special eye wear designed by Australian optician Dr. John Colvin.It looks like these glare reducing sunglasses were used during the Apollo and Skylab project... can anyone acknowledge? E-mail me if you want a photo of the display! |
Chariot412
Member Posts: 156
From: Lockport, NY, 14094
Registered: Jun 2011
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posted 04-01-2013 10:28 AM
Just checked my old Air Force pilot issued sunglasses from the 1980's and, yep, they're the gold A.O. By the way, the air force stopped issuing the gold and switched to dull silver sometime in the '90s if I remember correctly. |
Mike Dixon
Member Posts: 1397
From: Kew, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2003
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posted 04-01-2013 06:01 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Philip:
At the little museum of the NASA DSN Tidbinbilla near Canberra, Australia, I noticed a display entitled "Aussie Eyes in space" about special eye wear designed by Australian optician Dr. John Colvin.
There was an optometrist in Melbourne who definitely supplied sunglasses to both Pete Conrad and Richard Gordon.Can't remember his name, but he proudly displayed a signed picture given to him by the crew, together with the story behind the development of the glasses in his store window. |
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