Guest Sql_pl Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 The true story, without embellishment, is so remarkable that it’s worth a trip back to the 1960s to re-examine how the Speedmaster came to be considered in the first place, the nature of the strenuous tests to which it and four other chronographs were subjected and finally, how it was chosen over its competitors to accompany every manned space flight since the launch of the Gordon Cooper’s Faith 7 mission as part of the Mercury program on May 15th, 1963. Chosen to compete It all began in the early 1960s when two NASA officials anonymously visit several Houston jewellery stores, including Corrigan’s, which at the time was the city’s best-known watch and jewellery retailer. The men from NASA bought a series of chronographs of different brands, charged with the task of finding the best watch available for their astronauts to wear in space. The solo-flight Mercury space programme was almost completed (in fact, Wally Schirra had worn his own Speedmaster on his Mercury flight on the 3rd of October, 1962) and NASA was preparing for the Gemini (two-man) and Apollo (three-man) missions. There were plans for the astronauts on these missions to move about in space outside the ship. One of their key pieces of equipment would be a wristwatch which could withstand the difficult conditions of space. Every time an astronaut suspended in the vacuum of space turned his wrist, the watch would suddenly come out of the shade and be exposed to the unfiltered rays of the sun and temperature increases of more than 100 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fidestro Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Very Cool. I read a similar article once upon a time that said that Nasa even has "loaner" Speedmasters to be checked out by individuals preparing for missions to become familiar with the operation of the watch. If I could only buy one at that price... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sql_pl Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 I wonder what other competitors were apart from a 6263 Daytona. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxim Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 That's a really good interesting write up! Thanks for contributing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fidestro Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 I just looked up more on this from wikipedia and the watches in competition that failed in testing were from Breitling, Heuer, Rolex, Longines, and Bulova. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sql_pl Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Thanks Fidestro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limestone Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 I wonder what the outcome would be if these brands was tested again today... Which one would be the winner today of the original tested brands? Omega, Breitling, Heuer, Rolex, Longines, and Bulova. Or would there be any other brand that would have been the "new moonwatch" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreww Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Very interesting as to how things were done in different eras. Then, NASA engineers went out and bought their own watches for testing. Today, I'm sure that the rights would have been sold to the highest bidder, provided they could make a watch that would survive certain criteria. I know these days its all about the almighty dollar, but I prefer those days of yesteryear when things were done honestly and fairly. I'm not one that puts much stock in endorsements (pay someone enough and they'll say anything) but Nasa's endorsement of Omega is probably the most meaningful of any. Unsolicited, unbiased, and undisputed, just as it should be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sql_pl Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Which one would be the winner today of the original tested brands? Omega, Breitling, Heuer, Rolex, Longines, and Bulova. Would be more difficult as most chronographs now are automatic and it has to be manual to work in space. BTW don't you think Rolex should do the exact same with their Daytonas as Omega did? I mean they should make 16520/116520 bigger cased automatics additional models of the line and keep producing 6263/6265s as a classic manual chronograph. They would probably sell nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fidestro Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 .... I'm not one that puts much stock in endorsements (pay someone enough and they'll say anything) ..... This from the guy with Travolta/Breitling as an avatar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestripes Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 It is a common misconception that automatics wont work in space. That is simply untrue. The rotor is not powered by gravity, but momentum. If it's in one spot, the swing my wrist the opposite way is what makes it move. Not gravity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sql_pl Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Good to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krustybrand Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Wasn't Nanuq the one who devised the torture testing methods? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltatahoe Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 first off, congrats on your new watch & thanks for posting M -- definitely a good read BTW don't you think Rolex should do the exact same with their Daytonas as Omega did? I mean they should make 16520/116520 bigger cased automatics additional models of the line and keep producing 6263/6265s as a classic manual chronograph. They would probably sell nicely. couldn't agree more with this statement deltatahoe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrgod Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Interesting read, a classic story. For the Russian space program, the Fortis B-42 7750-based chronograph is the "official watch". So automatics can be used in space. A nice article of "Space watches" is available as free download from the WatchTime archive. Go to http://www.watchtime.com/print-archive/ and search for "space". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 A very interesting read I'm sure I read somewhere that the requirement of a manual movement was because NASA minds didn't think that an automatic would work in space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.