No single space project was more impressive….

[Prof. Rolex]

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

[date7201]

Congratulations to your choice...

I own a "Speedy" from 1994, the limited edition to the 25th anniversary, and with this hustle and bustle about the 40th another more reason to wear ...

greetings from vienna,
Christian

[akroll]

IMHO one of the greates achievements on the last century, let's hope we have similar ones in this one.

As seen here: GMT 02:56

[jholbrook]

Great post Mathias - thanks for sharing!

Let's not forget that, depite Omega's marketing, the Speedmaster wasn't the only watch on the moon:

[sterol]

Original von jholbrook
Great post Mathias - thanks for sharing!

Let's not forget that, depite Omega's marketing, the Speedmaster wasn't the only watch on the moon:

I didn't know that !!!
And no big advertising for this ????

[sheldonsmith]

Hodinkee at http://www.hodinkee.com/blog/2009/7/...ce-watche.html posted this...

The Rolex GMT Master 1675: While we all know the Omega Speedmaster Professional was official NASA issue, it is widely held that Jack Swigert, of Apollo 13, was actually wearing a Rolex GMT on that fateful flight. That theory is half true. In actuality, Swigert wore his personal GMT under the sleeves of his space suit while he wore his Omega on the outside. Many people have wondered why the GMT wasn't used for the moon missions and there are two simple reasons. 1) It is an automatic watch, and the lack of gravity would affect the accuracy of the movement. 2) It lacks a chronograph, and unlike most of us, the Apollo Astronauts actually used their chronographs for very important things.

Although, a Rolex will wind without gravity as it is inertia originating from the wearers arm that makes the rotor move, not gravity...

There is also more posted at http://rolexblog.blogspot.com/2008/0...lex-story.html complete with all the commentary and opposing comments.

-Sheldon

[ehemaliges mitglied]

The 35th moon landing anniversary Speedmaster with the silver dial is one amazing looking watch as well. Unbelievably beautiful.