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American Optical, History
American Optical’s Original Pilot: the first sunglasses on the Moon
When Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon and proclaimed, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” it was also a giant leap for American Optical. AO sunglasses had long been the choice of pilots well before the space race — and proved their quality all the way into space.
NASA began including AO’s FG-58 sunglasses — now better known as the Original Pilot — in astronauts’ survival kits starting with the Gemini IV mission. These kits were designed to protect astronauts in case they landed in rough terrain upon returning to Earth. American Optical’s reputation for military-grade quality and high-performance optics made them the perfect supplier — and in the end, these sunglasses traveled nearly half a million kilometers!
Photo : Charles Conrad & Gordon Cooper, Astronaut NASA
The entire Apollo 11 crew received these kits, with their sunglasses safely stored in a case specially designed for space. When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the Moon, the AO FG-58 became the very first pair of sunglasses on the lunar surface. One of these historic pairs is now on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Still available today, the Original Pilot remains unchanged and timeless… since 1958!
