Sunday marks 45 years since astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the moon, and General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) is celebrating. The company played a role in that “small step” and “giant leap” they took on the moon.
Commemorating Apollo 11
The moon boot sneakers go on sale exactly at 4:18 p.m. Eastern on Sunday. That’s the precise moment of the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. GE’s new boots / sneakers are called the Missions, and they are limited edition. Only 100 pairs of the sneakers will be sold on JackThreads for about $200. They’re expected to be delivered in September.
General Electric is reminding consumers that it created the silicone rubber that was used to make the tread on the boots Aldrin and Armstrong wore on that fateful space flight. The company also created Lexan, a type of polycarbonate that was used to create the helmets the astronauts wore.
GE’s Missions boots
The boots are designed for both men and women by luxury shoemaker Android Homme, reports Fox News. GE showed them off on Wednesday, which was the anniversary of Apollo11’s launch. The company used SnapChat to make the announcement and asked Aldrin to use it to tell stories about his trip to the moon. Of course there were also photos of him wearing the boot sneakers.
They’re off-white and gray and have a sole that’s made of thermoplastic and is translucent. The components used to make the boots are made of the same ultra-lightweight carbon fiber that is used in components for jet engines. The boots also have a water resistant coating that’s similar to materials used on the blades of wind turbines to keep ice from forming on them.
By creating the boots, General Electric is also calling attention to its laboratories and the space age materials it creates inside of them. JackThreads said they’re selling the boots “to not only commemorate GE’s contribution to space flight but also our shared excitement for future awesome things.”
