by KNU recliners have shown up on broadcasts of astronauts prior to the latest launch around the moon
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The four astronauts may have been the stars of the show with the launch of Artemis II on April 1, but it was the furniture they were occupying prior to that launch that caught the eye of the folks at Best Home Furnishings.
That’s because it was a group of manual recliners produced by sister contract furniture manufacturer KNU that the astronauts were relaxing on prelaunch.
A company sales rep contacted the manufacturer upon seeing the red leather chairs, which were inspired by an original Best recliner called Costilla.
However, there were some distinguishing design elements that let officials know it was a KNU chair. The distinguishing element was a protective plastic trim along the back and sides of the unit that is not on the residential version of the chair.
“I tuned into the station when the rep let me know about it and we were looking at it at the office,” said Eric Vollmer, senior market strategist at Best. “And we started looking at it a little bit closer and then we realized it was our KNU sister company’s recliners. We had developed that style originally, and they thought it would be a good fit for KNU.”
As KNU supplies medical seating to hospitals and other contract settings, the chairs had some differences in both the mechanism and trim.
“Upon some closer inspection, we saw there is some plastic trim that goes along the back and side that protects it say in a smaller patient room of a hospital,” he added. “It has plastic trim to protect the edges so it can last longer. Actually, that is probably the most distinguishable feature that we could tell. Nobody would notice it but us. The recliner’s mechanism also looked a little different than ours at Best, so we also picked up on that.”
This is not the first time the company has seen the chairs televised as part of a space launch from Cape Canaveral. It also saw them during the broadcast before a previous space mission some years back and hopes to see them during the broadcast of future launches, including next year’s Artemis III mission and the 2028 Artemis IV mission to the moon.
“Those recliners have been there for quite some time and we remember seeing them back then, too,” Vollmer said. “We are also anxious to see them on these next missions and we will be sure to pay close attention to it.”
“Obviously it is cool to see products in movies and TV shows, which we pick up on from time to time,” Vollmer said. “But this is part of history and it is pretty cool to be part of it.”
