That same year, according to an apocryphal anecdote repeated by Omega press materials and trade publications, a number of commercial chronograph wristwatches were furtively purchased from Corrigan's, a Houston jeweler, to evaluate their use for the Gemini and Apollo Programs. Three years before the Speedmaster's official qualification for space flight, astronaut Wally Schirra took his personal CK 2998 aboard Mercury-Atlas 8 (Sigma 7) on October 3, 1962. When President Eisenhower decreed that test pilots would be the only permissible option for Project Mercury, the inclusion of a chronograph of some sort was virtually assured. The ability to time, and therefore calibrate, fuel consumption, trajectory and other variables allowed for both more efficient travel as well as better pilots and race car drivers. Submariners, who also relied heavily on split second timing for what was essentially blind travel, were known for the use of chronographs. Pilots Įd White wearing an Omega Speedmaster on EVA during Gemini 4Ĭhronographs were first developed for use in artillery for battle, but soon came to be indispensable for use in high performance machinery, specifically by pilots, but later also by race car drivers. The watches used for Apollo 11's mission were the 1967 "pre-Moon" 321 versions. All of the early Speedmasters used the same Calibre 321 movement, which was only replaced in 1968/1969 with the introduction of the Calibre 861 movement, used in the "Moon watch". This was again updated in 1963 by references ST 105.002, which kept the alpha hands and then less than one year later ST 105.003 with straight baton hands and ST 105.012, the first Speedmaster with the "Professional" appellation on the dial, with an asymmetrical case to protect the chronograph pushers and crown. In 1959, a second version, CK 2998, was released with a black aluminum base 1000 bezel and later in 2998-2, tachymeter 500 bezel and alpha hands. The model established the series's hallmark 12-hour, triple-register chronograph layout, domed Plexiglas crystal (named Hésalite), and simple, high-contrast index markers but, unlike most subsequent Speedmaster models, it used Omega's broad arrow hand set. The "Speedmaster" name was coined from the model's novel tachymeter scale bezel (in brushed stainless steel) and by the convention set by prior Omega brands Seamaster and Railmaster. This movement was developed in 1946 by Albert Piguet of Lemania, which had been acquired in 1932 by Omega's parent company, Société Suisse pour l'Industrie Horlogère, (SSIH). The first Speedmaster model, the reference CK 2915, was powered by the Omega Calibre 321 movement. Instead, it was introduced in 1957 as a sport and racing chronograph following on from the early chronographs of the 1920s and 1930s, including the Omega 28.9 chronograph, which was Omega's first small wrist chronograph, complementing Omega's position as the official timekeeper for the Olympic Games. The Speedmaster was not originally designed for space exploration. The Speedmaster line also includes other models, including analog- digital and automatic mechanical watches.
#OMEGA MOON WATCH PROFESSIONAL#
The Speedmaster Professional remains one of several watches qualified by NASA for spaceflight and is still the only one so qualified for EVA.
#OMEGA MOON WATCH MANUAL#
The manual winding Speedmaster Professional or "Moonwatch" is the best-known and longest-produced it was worn during the first American spacewalk as part of NASA's Gemini 4 mission and was the first watch worn by an astronaut walking on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission that 600 million people watched from Earth. Astronaut Walter Schirra was the first person to wear one in space in 1962 during his Mercury-Atlas 8 mission. Since then, many different chronograph movements have been marketed under the Speedmaster name. While chronographs have been around since the late 1800s, Omega first introduced this line of chronographs in 1957. Omega Speedmaster is a line of chronograph wristwatches produced by Omega SA.