Moon Watch Universe

On this date, 1971, August 13 55 years ago, NASA announced the Apollo 17 prime & backup crews. Veteran astronaut US Navy Cdr Eugene Cernan as Commander, US Navy LtCdr Ronald Evans as CMP and geologist Harrison Schmitt as LMP. US Navy Alan Shepard was (again) chief astronaut at that time (Jun 1971 - Jan 1974) and Apollo 17 became the only night launch of Project Apollo. Shortly after the Gemini IX mission, on 26th July 1966, naval aviator Eugene Cernan received his astronaut wings, pinned on by Admiral David McDonald. Ever since the troubled Gemini IX spacewalk, during which Cernan suffered a tear in the suit insulation, he considered his NASA-issued Speedmaster watch as a "lucky charm". Cernan wore the Omega Speedmaster 105.003-64 NASA n° 28 on a JB Champion bracelet as an extra wrist chronograph during Apollo 10 and Apollo 17. Nowadays n° 28 is on display at the Omega museum in Bienne. Besides the three astronauts, three mice made the trip onboard CSM "America" which orbited the Moon a record 75 times, easy to remember with the 75 hours lunar stay! Omega ambassador Eugene Cernan, aka "The Last Man on the Moon", will always be remembered/admired for his historic profound departing words from the Moon in December 1972. Apollo 17, Only a Beginning… (Photos: USNavy/NASA)

On this date August 4… 1966 60 years ago, we saw the entire Apollo 1 crew wearing a NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster during the press meeting at North American Aviation in Downey California. The original backup crew, James McDivitt, David Scott and Russell Schweickart were also present but by November they were reassigned as backup for the Apollo 2 crew. The Apollo 1 mission logo was only worn October 13, 1966 onwards, it was created by NAA engineer Allen Stevens, who also designed the mission logos for Apollo 7, 9 and 10. Although the Apollo 1 crew was announced in March 1966, it took another 5 months for Speedies to be issued. Virgil Grissom and Edward White first used a NASA-issued Speedmaster 105.003 during the Gemini program, Roger Chaffee wore his personal cream dial Timex Electric until this date. NASA soon realised, with 55 astronauts recruited of which 30 on active flight status, they didn’t have enough wrist chronographs and quickly ordered more. It would last until December 1968 before NASA considered to have enough Omega Speedmaster chronographs to be issued to prime & backup crews of the busy Apollo program! (Photos: NASA)

55 years ago… "Fallen Astronaut" artwork on the Moon ! August 2, 1971, a 9 cm Aluminium “Fallen Astronaut” artwork figurine, conceived and designated by Belgian Antwerp-based artist Paul Van Hoeydonck, was left on the Moon by Apollo 15 commander David Scott. Moonwalker David Scott photographed the figurine next to a memorial plaque but waited for a post-mission press conference to publicly disclose its existence. This plaque had the names of eight American astronauts and six Soviet cosmonauts who had died in service thus far between 1961 and 1971. NASA only revealed the figurine was made by Belgian artist Paul Van Hoeydonck during the Apollo 16 launch on April 16 1972, as the artist was interviewed by CBS reporter Walter Conkrite. Wristwatch check… An Omega Speedmaster 1861 chronograph on a steel mesh Jacoby Bender Champion bracelet. (Photo: MoonwatchUniverse)

On this date, July 24... 60 years ago, December 1966 post-Project Gemini the NASA-astronauts gave feedback on all aspect of the program including the Omega Speedmaster wrist chronograph. Post-Apollo 13 the same feedback was repeated and 55 years ago the Apollo 15 prime & backup crews finally got what they wanted. In 1972, Omega applied the changes to the Alaska Project II Speedmaster but it took until 1978 to get the ultimate Omega Speedmaster on the wrist of NASA astronauts in space! The full fact-checked story about the ultimate Omega Speedmaster illustrated with official NASA photographs on MoonwatchUniverse. Photo shows Apollo 15 commander David Scott and LMP Alfred Worden wearing their practical bezel NASA-issued Speedmaster 105.012-65 at Patrick AFB Florida. (Photo: NASA 71-H-1161)

60 years ago... Gemini X 1966, July 18-21, during the 2 days 22 hours long Gemini X mission, USAF Capt Michael Collins performed two EVAs to retrieve experiments from the Gemini spacecraft and the Agena Target Vehicle in Low Earth Orbit. Michael Collins got the nickname "Magellan" as he had trained extensively to use the handheld sextant to perform some celestial navigation exercises. Unfortunately he lost his 70mm Hasselblad camera so there're no photos of his umbilical EVA. He had chosen to wear the NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster 105.003-63 underneath the Gemini pressure suit, the first NASA astronaut to do so. US Navy LCdr John Young, who was the very first to wear a NASA-issued Speedmaster (be it a NASA tests "survivor" chronograph), made his second spaceflight and it was his wife Barbara who had drawn the mission logo. (Photos: NASA)

MoonwatchUniverse Quiz The 2025 MWU Speedmaster quiz celebrated 10 years of coining the term "MoonwatchUniverse", an esoteric/specialized appraisal questionnaire about the Spaceflight legacy of the Omega Speedmaster wrist chronograph. Did this inspire the SWATCH Group for their ultimate moonSwatch quiz in order to get the 2026 " Mission To The Moon 1969 " release? (Photo: MWU)

July 14, 1966… Gemini X the 8th two-men mission 60 years ago, KSC Florida, John Young and Michael Collins during final flight plan review for the Agena-Gemini X RV-mission US Naval LCdr John Young had flown on Gemini III and USAF Capt Michael Collins, a United States Military Academy - West Point Class 1952 graduate, had been backup for Gemini VII. While John Young was the very first to use a NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster, be it a 105.003-63 survivor of the NASA tests, Michael Collins wore a NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster April 1966 onwards. Interestingly, Collins always prefered a smaller wrist watch and during the Gemini X mission, Collins wore the NASA-issued Speedmaster on a leather bund-type strap underneath the David Clark space suit. Collins performed a 49-minutes long stand-up EVA (torso outside spacecraft) and an umbilical EVA-spacewalk to retrieve experiments from the Agena Target Vehicle. Collins main task was to perform celestial navigation with a handheld sextant. During his two spaceflight missions, Gemini X and Apollo 11, USAF MajGeneral Michael Collins accumulated 11 days 2 hours in space before leaving NASA in January 1970. During the Apollo program, several astronauts wore an extra wrist watch underneath the spacesuit and by the turn-of-the-century wearing the Speedmaster X-33 underneath the suit became standard practise for ISS-bound spacefarers. (Photos: NASA)

July 10, remembering USAF MajGeneral Joseph “Joe” Engle In the mid-1950s, a young Joe Engle learned to fly while working a summer job at Cessna Aircraft. He received his USAF pilot wings in 1958. After 4 years in an operational fighter squadron, Joe Engle became a test pilot flying the hypersonic flight research X-15 rocket-aircraft, making 16 flights in this remarkable experimental aircraft. Being selected in 1966 as a NASA astronaut, supporting Apollo 10 & 14. Thus far, Engle remains one of two people to have flown into space on two different types of winged vehicles, the X-15 and the space shuttle orbiter, totalling 250 hours in space. In total, between 1965 and 1986, US Air Force MajGeneral Joe Engle had ten official portraits, in three of which he wore his NASA-issued Speedmaster 105.003 chronograph (e.g. S86-26417). Note the running chronograph in each of these portraits! 2024, July 10 Joe Engle passed away aged 91… (Photos: NASA)

Happy 91st birthday to Harrison "Jack" Schmitt Selected in NASA group 4 (1965), Schmitt was the only geologist in the astronaut corps and the sole true scientist to walk on the Moon in December 1972. During Apollo 17, Lunar Module Pilot Schmitt spent 12 days 13 hours in space, staying 75 hours on the lunar surface of which 22 hours during lunar spacewalks collecting 111 kilogram lunar samples. Schmitt, the next-to-last person to have walked on the Moon, retired from NASA in 1975 and became a US senator in June 1976. Schmitt had a career as adjunct professor of engineering physics and consultant in geology & spaceflight. As Apollo 17 commander US Navy Captain Eugene Cernan always said, "I became an amateur-geologist but Harrison became a good jet pilot!" This 1980 photo shows NASA astronaut professor Harrison Schmitt wearing an applied logo dial Omega Speedmaster 105.012-66 or 145.012-67 wrist chronograph (Photo: NASA/US Senate)

June 1966… Gemini X training 60 years ago... Michael Collins during Gemini X. Collins graduated from the United States Military Academy - West Point Class 1952, joined the US Air Force as a testpilot and was selected in NASA’s third group of astronauts in 1963. Selected as backup for Gemini VII, Collins became prime crew pilot for Gemini X in January 1966.  The first NASA photos showing Michael Collins wearing a NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster are dated April 1966 and in these June 1966 photos Collins wore a Speedmaster 105.003-63 wrist chronograph on long Velcro strap. Interestingly, during the Gemini X mission, Collins wore the NASA-issued Speedmaster on a leather bund-type strap underneath the David Clark space suit. Collins performed a 49-minutes long stand-up EVA (torso outside spacecraft) and an umbilical EVA-spacewalk to retrieve experiments from the Agena Target Vehicle. Collins main task was to perform celestial navigation with a handheld sextant. During his two spaceflight missions, Michael Collins accumulated 11 days 2 hours in space. (Photos: NASA)

60 years ago… Gemini IX the 7th two men mission. On June 5, Cernan performed a spacewalk wearing an Environmental Life Support System (ELSS) chest pack and a 75 kilograms Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (AMU). However, after two hours with an overheated suit, a fogged-up face plate he had to end the perilous EVA, barely being able to return safely into the Gemini capsule. The Gemini IX mission lasted 3 days 20 minutes, it would be up to "Mr Rendez-vous" Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin PhD to sort out and master spacewalking in Low Earth Orbit. This June 10, 1966 photo shows NASA astronaut Eugene Cernan arriving at Ellington field Houston - Texas meeting his family. Note the NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster 105.003-64 wrist chronograph (NASA #28), which became his lucky charm. During both Apollo 10 and 17, Cernan wore this Speedmaster #28 underneath the spacesuit on a lightweight steel mesh Jacoby Bender Champion bracelet. Today it resides on display in the Omega museum in Bienne - Biel kanton Bern - Switzerland. (Photo: NASA)

US Air Force BrigGeneral Charles Duke… In 1965 Charles "Charlie" Duke graduated as test pilot at the ARPS (class 64C) Aerospae Research Pilot School and was selected a NASA astronaut in April 1966. Duke became a crew support member for Apollo 10, LMP backup for Apollo 13 and 17. In April 1972, he became the tenth man to walk on the Moon, staying 71 hours in the Descartes region. In 1975, Charles Duke retired from NASA, became a USAF(R) Brig General in 1979 and retired from the Air Force in 1983. Since 2017, Charles "Charlie" Duke has been an ambassador for Omega watches and in this official 1971 NASA portrait Duke wore a NASA-issued Speedmaster 105.012 wrist chronograph. (Photo: NASA S71-51288 /Omega)

65 years ago... US Navy Cdr NASA astronaut Alan B. Shepard On February 21, NASA Robert Gilruth had chosen the three Mercury astronauts that would make the first flight, in alphabetical order implying that no final decision had been made: Glenn, Grissom and Shepard. LIFE magazine brought the story calling these three the Gold team, the other astronauts were called the Red team. On May , 1961 US Navy LtCdr Alan B. Shepard became the first NASA astronaut making a 15 minutes sub-orbital flight onboard Mercury-Redstone 3 "Freedom 7". Although no wrist watch was worn on the short sub-orbital flights, in September 1959 the Space Task Group for Project Mercury had already issued the first official NASA astronaut wrist watches for the "Mercury 7" astronauts; a bespoke 24 hours dial/movement LeCoultre pilot watch based on the LeCoultre Quartermaster. The military-inspired Quartermaster was produced in 1957 to celebrate 125 years of LeCoultre watches, 2500 were made. The Space Task Group for Project Mercury wanted a 24 hours movement wrist watch so the astronauts were in sink with the worldwide NASA MSFN Manned Space Flight Network of tracking stations & ships. For these 34mm LeCoutre watches, the astronauts had the choice between the "Lizard expansion" bracelet or the lightweight mesh bracelet. However, the watches were only used in training between September 1959 and October 1963. (Photo: LIFE magazine)

On April 27th, 1976, NASA inventoried about 60 out of 97 Omega Speedmaster chronographs and made these available to the National Air & Space Museum (NASM) in Washington, DC. These older Speedmaster versions were no longer needed for program support while NASA kept 145.012 versions for ALT and STS programs. Then and now, these Omega watches were considered a collection with significant artifactual value! (Photo: Fratellowatches)

First NASA-issued astronaut wrist watches! 65 years ago the first NASA manned spaceflight of Alan Shepard was postponed due to rainy weather, pushing launch to May 5, 1961. This May 5 photo shows Mercury 7 astronauts Scott Carpenter and Schirra with some of the astronauts' wives at the beach near Cape Canaveral. Note the photo of the MR-3 "Freedom 7" launch and both Walter Schirra and Scott Carpenter wearing a NASA-issued Lecoultre "Mercury 7" astronaut watch. These watches were commissioned by the Space Task Group for Project Mercury and the astronauts wore these during training between September 1959 and October 1963. In other words, the Mercury 7 astronauts received their official NASA wrist watches six months before they could wear their bespoke BF Goodrich pressure suits, delivered in March 1961 ! The Lecoultre 24 hours dial/movement watches were based on the Lecoultre Quartermaster as NASA wanted the astronauts to wear Zulu time watches in accordance with the worldwide MSFN ! (Photo: UPI)

55 years ago... 60 seconds bezel on NASA Speedmasters. NASA photo 71HC-677 is among the very first photos clearly showing a NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster with "60 seconds" bezel... May 5, 1971. Apollo 15 "Moonwalkers" David Scott & James Irwin presenting the Geologic Rover, used in training at the artificially created Cinder Lake crater field in Arizona. Of course I won't reveal the exact moment how & when NASA presented the 60 seconds bezel and won't go on about the story (Gemini & Apollo 13 feedback), but You folks can read everything in my upcoming article revealing all about the practical "60 seconds" bezel as requested by NASA astronauts... (Photo: NASA)

50 years ago... on this date, NASA Speedmasters to NASM! On April 27, 1976 NASA informed the National Air & Space Museum in Washington D.C. of the availability of about 60 out of 97 Omega Speedmaster chronographs delivered to NASA. Then and now, these Omega watches were considered a collection with significant artefact value! Between April 1965 and December 1968, NASA received five deliveries of Omega Speedmaster chronographs, totalling 97 wrist watches. Taking the NASA tests survival Speedmaster in our count, the total becomes 100 Omega Speedmaster chronographs. Between 1965 and 1975, 71 (2 of NASA tests included) of these 100, were used in actual spaceflight missions (23 different 105.003, 38 different 105.012 and 10 different 145.012). MoonwatchUniverse celebrates this 50th anniversary with a full disclosure of the information available revealing the minute details of how NASA worked with the Omega Speedmaster chronographs, giving a pair to NASA Directors, indicating certain NASA numbers to half-a-dozen Speedies exclusively to be used in altitude chamber testing and preparing specific Speedies well in advance of upcoming spaceflight missions. Looking forward from the community triggering esoteric research! (Photo: MoonwatchUniverse) #321 #861 #astronaut #moonwatchuniverse #NASA #Speedmaster #Speedytuesday