Silhouette invited the tallest astronaut in space to launch the Titan Minimal Art Space edition model at its space-themed Mido event. Emma White went to investigate ‘the lightest frame in the universe’
Over 300 guests gathered in the serene surroundings of Milan’s Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia for the grand launch of the Silhouette 1.8g Titan Minimal Art Space edition model.
Live dance acts, special lighting effects, music, cocktails and canapés preceded Italian TV host Alessandro Cecchi Paone’s grand stage entrance to interview astronaut James D Wetherbee and NASA head optometrist Dr Keith Manuel about the importance of eyewear in space.
Silhouette has been supplying NASA astronauts since 2000 and Wetherbee said that he carries around 30 pairs of spectacles and sunglasses with him on a mission. ‘It’s easy to sit on them or lose them so I like to ensure I always have a pair to hand,’ he said.
Specs in space
Some 70 per cent of astronauts have impaired vision, with 90 per cent wearing eyewear due to the extraordinary stress subjected on eyes in space.
During a launch a space shuttle will accelerate from zero to four times the speed of sound and everything an astronaut wears temporarily increases to up to eight times the weight it is on earth.
In addition, astronauts work up to 10-hour shifts at a time, making good eyewear crucial.‘Eyewear must be stable, low mass, light, protective and very comfortable for life in space,’ said NASA’s Manuel, adding that the Silhouette Titan Minimal Art frame fulfils all of these requirements with the added benefit of having no screws or hinges.
‘In space something as simple as a loose screw in eyewear can cause serious problems, especially if an astronaut is working outside an aircraft where small parts can be swallowed or breathed in and potentially lead to suffocation,’ he said.
Silhouette’s Twinlock System involves two solid barbed pins on either side of the frame measured to one-hundredth of a millimetre for precision and solidity.
What’s more, skin can burn in under 20 seconds in space, demonstrating the need for high protection sunglasses in addition to spectacles. ‘If there is one message you should take away from tonight it is the importance of protecting eyes from harmful blue light, which is now linked to contributing to macular degeneration,’ said Manuel.
Silhouette’s sunglasses have brown lenses which ‘filter 96.5 per cent of harmful blue light’. These lenses are available in the Ideal Protection and Ideal Pol sunglass collections.
Over four million pairs of Titan Minimal Art frames have been sold around the world, prompting the launch of the special edition Space model which is available in eight designs, each in eight different colours.
Perfect fits
As with all Silhouette eyewear, the production of the Titan Minimal Art involved 80 craftsmen, consisting of 180 separate steps and 140 manual adjustments.
Made out of hyper-flex titanium the Titan Minimal Art is hypoallergenic, particularly break-proof and able to withstand extreme temperatures, said Silhouette.An astronaut’s spectacles must also fit perfectly in space as during a 10-hour shift in a sealed spacesuit there is no way that they can be put back on or adjusted inside a close fitting helmet.
Silhouette said that the ideal fit is achieved by a light and even contact pressure that is generated by the dynamic spring zone of elastic temples.
In addition, the design of the temples is gentle, smooth and minimalistic, ensuring pressure is almost imperceptible.The temples of the eight special edition Space models have a multicoloured structural print and the end caps of the temples are coated with metallic shades of chrome, titanium and gold.
The Space Edition colour palette is subdued, with shades of silver, black, brown and ruthenium as well as more fashion-led colours such as violet, red and dark green.
A fine pattern is hand-printed on to the silver, gold, violet and black models and lens shapes range from oval and almond-shaped to rectangular – some with rounded corners.
‘Even during our first conversation, Silhouette employees pointed out to me the quality and potential of these excellent spectacles – the good reputation that precedes Silhouette did the rest,’ added Manuel.