The Spark Behind SWISSAPOLLO
Growing up in Switzerland, my older brother and I shared a deep fascination with space exploration. I remember him showing me a poster of the Apollo 11 mission and saying, “Twelve men have landed there, you know?”
But who were these men? In my young mind, I pictured them as larger-than-life heroes, like Buck Rogers or Superman. Astronauts, in my eyes, were giants—untouchable and extraordinary.
In 1981, everything changed when I attended a lecture by James Irwin, an astronaut from Apollo 15. I expected to meet a towering figure, but instead, I was taken aback. In front of us stood a kind, slender, and modest man who wasn’t tall at all. His humility stood in stark contrast to the superhero image I had imagined.
In that moment, my perspective shifted. I realized that you don’t need to be a superhero to achieve extraordinary things. If these men could do it, so could anyone. That realization has stayed with me ever since, shaping my journey and inspiring me to create SWISSAPOLLO. Now, my mission is to give back what I received: the belief that greatness is not about being superhuman, but about passion, perseverance, and the courage to dream big.
Lukas Viglietti, Founder and owner