Dear Watch-Fans,
today I would like to take the opportunity to show some pictures of my Speedmaster Ref. 345.0808 in celebrating the launch of Apollo 11 40 years ago:









The definition of the goal (John F. Kennedy, 25th May 1961):
“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”

An interesting operational equipment, which took part in the mission:




(Source: NASA, Handbook of Pilot Operational Equipment for Manned Space Flight, CD42-A/SL-997, 1973)

Not all “timer” worked well:


(Source: NASA, Apollo 11 Mission Report, MSC-00171, November 1969)

Due to the malfunction of the timer in the Lunar Module (LM), Armstrong left his Speedmaster in the LM as a backup. Armstrong therefore wore no Speedmaster when he stepped on the moon and so Aldrins Speedmaster was the first watch worn on the moon surface.

Goal achieved:


(Source: NASA, Post Launch Mission Report, M-932-69-11, 24th July 1969)

BTW, in which timezone is the moon?


(Source: NASA, Post Launch Mission Report, M-932-69-11, 24th July 1969)

Timezone on the moon: GMT (today: UTC)

And this is also the reason for two different data, which sometimes cause confusion:

First manned landing on the moon: 20th July 1969 (20:17 Uhr GMT)

First man on the moon surface: 21th July 1969 (2:56 Uhr GMT, see also the writing on the dial of the new Omega Speedmaster 40th Anniversary)

Best Regards
Matthias