Former Astronaut Advises to Protect Eyes During Solar Eclipse

Houston, TX, August 10, 2023 --(PR.com)-- Prevent Blindness Texas (PBT), Texas's leading nonprofit eye health and safety organization, is getting ready for the upcoming solar eclipses visible with epicenters above Texas, by launching the Prevent Blindness Texas Eclipse + Your Eyes program. Presented by PBT and the Alcon Foundation, the goal of the program is to educate the public on solar eclipses and raise awareness about the dangers of looking directly at the sun during an eclipse. The Alcon Foundation has shown its commitment to the vision community and eye health and safety with its presenting partnership of the PBT Eclipse + Your Eyes program.

“Eclipse events are a reminder to us all of the incredible beauty and science behind our solar system,” former NASA astronaut Dr. Mike Massimino said. “When the moon moves between the sun and the earth, it obstructs the sun’s light from reaching the earth, casting a shadow on its surface and creating a solar eclipse. Seeing an eclipse is breathtaking and exhilarating, but it can be dangerous if you are not correctly protecting your eyes. Everyone should witness a solar eclipse, but, bottom line, you need to use protective eyewear.”

Failure to protect the eyes while looking at the sun during a solar eclipse can result in “eclipse blindness” or solar retinopathy, causing damage or destruction to the cells in the retina. As part of its Eclipse + Your Eyes program, Prevent Blindness Texas is offering solar eclipse glasses for purchase which are manufactured to meet the safety guidelines of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 12312-2), with proceeds going to support the organization’s sight-saving programs.

Organizational Background: Prevent Blindness Texas, a state-wide health nonprofit, has been directly responsible for saving sight and enhancing the quality of vision life for thousands of Texans for over 65 years. The mission of Prevent Blindness Texas is to prevent blindness and preserve sight with primary programming providing critical vision care to Texas’s most vulnerable citizens by assisting in early detection and screening services, conducting eye health and vision education, providing navigation services and resources for follow-up care, including prescription glasses and other eye care treatments. PBT focuses on the medically under-served populations most at risk for possible vision problems. Last year, Prevent Blindness Texas provided education and vision screening services to 57,000 children and adults, provided financial resources for 6,000 individuals, and certified more than 1,100 vision screeners.

Photos and graphics available upon request.

PBT’s Solar Eclipse Campaign presented by The Alcon Foundation