Athletic apparel company OROS has released an all-weather jacket sporting the NASA worm logo and an Apollo 11 Easter egg.
The OROS 39A Flight Jacket features the NASA worm logo in orange on the chest. On the back, the orange is again featured as a backdrop to a Neil Armstrong quote, the lunar coordinates of the Apollo 11 landing site, and the brand’s tagline, “Find your Beyond.”
Despite the slightly disjointed timeline of associating the historic Apollo 11 Moon landing on July 24, 1969, with NASA’s Worm logo, which was only introduced in 1975, the jacket is a tempting morsel for the NASA enthusiast.
In addition to the NASA 39A Flight Jacket, the $350 price tag also gets you a certificate signed by NASA astronaut Kathy Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space. Sullivan is also credited with being the first woman to dive the Challenger Deep, the deepest known point on Earth’s seabed.
According to OROS although Sullivan was not directly involved in the development of the jacket, she is a figure that encapsulates what the brand stands for.
“While Kathy Sullivan wasn’t involved in the development of the jacket, she is the perfect embodiment of OROS’ ethos: Find Your Beyond,” an OROS representative said to Rocket Rundown by email.
OROS as a company not only creates NASA-inspired clothing but is itself inspired by NASA. Cofounder Michael Markesbery launched the company, along with Rithvik Venna, utilising “Aerogel technology used by NASA” he studied at Miami University thanks to an Astronaut Scholarship Foundation — a non-profit created in 1984 by the six surviving members of the Mercury 7 — scholarship.
In a gesture that honours OROS’ beginnings, the brand has promised to donate 10% of the purchase price of each NASA 39A Flight Jacket to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.
“The Astronaut Scholarship foundation changed the trajectory of my life,” said Markesbery. “Being in a position to give back to the foundation, knowing how much it meant for me, feels good, and is the right thing to do.”
The OROS NASA 39A Flight Jacket is set to be released on October 1 and will be limited to just 400 pieces.
