#105.012

Apollo 14... Playing golf on the lunar surface During the 1971 Apollo 14 lunar landing mission, commander Alan B. Shepard played a few golf shots in the Fra Mauro region on the Moon! NASA astronauts and sports always went together... 5 decades ago “Golf” became the sport of almost every astronaut as in 1968, astronaut chief Deke Slayton requested that he could play with other astronauts  and approached Golf-pro Danny Lawler to give the Apollo astronauts some  private lessons. Veteran-astronaut Alan Shepard was a keen golf player since the Mercury days and had the idea to play golf on the Moon ! On Apollo 14, Commander Shepard carried a make-shift Iron-6 attached to a geologic sample stick and hit two golf balls on the Moon. The make of the Golf balls was never revealed but the actual Golf stick sits in the U.S.G.A. museum in New Jersey - USA. Note astronaut/Admiral Alan Shepard wore an Omega Speedmaster "Moonwatch" chronograph in the photo holding the make-shift Iron-6 assembly geologic sample tool. (Photo: USGA/UPI)

50 years ago... Apollo 16 to the Moon ! Official NASA crew portrait for the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission; CMP Thomas Mattingly (US Navy), Commander John Young (US Navy) and Charles Duke (USAF). Mattingly had been scheduled to fly on Apollo 13 but was rescheduled to the Apollo 16 mission to stay in lunar orbit while Moonwalkers Young & Duke stayed 71 hours on the lunar surface. They performed three lunar spacewalks totalling 22 hours during which 95 kilograms lunar rock & samples were collected. Note Young wore his Omega Speedmaster on a single rivet leather bund style strap with a thin metal Timely calendar bent around it. The Apollo 16 CSM was named “Casper” while the Lunar Lander was named “Orion”. (Photo: NASA)

50 years ago... Apollo 15 Goodwill tour From November 6 to 21, 1971 the Apollo 15 crew conducted their European goodwill tour which brought them to the UK, France, Italy and Germany. 1969 onwards, Apollo astronauts returning from a lunar mission made a post-mission World Goodwill Tour to meet foreign cultures and people. By 1971, the Apollo 15 Goodwill tour brought the astronauts to several European countries, among which Germany, where the astronauts were invited skiing on the slopes of the 2962 meter high ZugSpitze, the highest mountain in the Wetterstein gebirge at the German-Austrian border. Note David Scott wore a NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster chronograph, with 60 minutes bezel, during skiing activities with fellow Apollo 15 crew members James Irwin and Alfred Worden. See RadialProject.com for a re-issue of this practical bezel ! (Photo: NASA/ZüdDeutsche)

January 5, remembering veteran NASA astronaut John Young Four years ago, astronaut John Young passed away, a naval aviator since 1954, Young was a veteran of two Gemini (3 & 10), two Apollo (10 & 16) and two space shuttle Columbia spaceflight missions. This March 3, 1965 shows Navy aviator astronaut John Young wearing the new white G3C spacesuit during a weight & balance check-up in vertical position for the upcoming 2-men Gemini III mission. Note Young was wearing a NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster 105.003-63 chronograph on an elastic bracelet. This was probably one of only four Speedmaster wristwatches that were delivered to NASA in late October 1964 for testing as Omega delivered the first batch of Speedmaster chronographs to NASA on April 23, 1965. Moreover, between April 1965 and April 1968, Omega delivered a total of 97 Speedmaster chronographs, most of which 105.012 references! (Photo: NASA)

January 5 … we remember veteran NASA astronaut John Young Three years ago, astronaut John Young passed away, a naval aviator since 1954, Young was a veteran of two Gemini (3 & 10), two Apollo (10 & 16) and two space shuttle Columbia spaceflight missions. This June 1981 photo shows  John Young visiting a children’s hospital handing out some STS-1 patches. The STS-1 logo was based on a pencil sketch made by John Young, further elaborated and colored by space artist Robert in 1979. The logo depicts a shuttle launch and a shuttle orbiter flying around the Earth. Note John Young wore a NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster 105.012 chronograph on a Jacoby Bender Champion steel mesh bracelet. (Photo: NASA/Keystone)

US Air Force pilot and Apollo 8 commander Frank Borman had set a 14 days spaceflight endurance record on Gemini 7 and served on the Apollo 1 review board. In December 1968, Apollo 8 became the first manned spacecraft to orbit more than one celestial body as the Command module orbited the Moon ten times over the course of 20 hours during which the Apollo 8 crew  made their Christmas eve TV broadcast. Note the Omega Speedmaster 105.012 chronograph on JB Champion bracelet prominent at his left wrist. (Photo: NASA)

Apollo 11 Lunar Module Pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin explaining procedures using scale models of the North American Aviation Command & Service Module and Grumman Lunar Lander. Apollo 11 was Aldrin’s second space flight and he became the second Moonwalker after the “Eagle” landed in Mare Tranquillitatis on July 20, 1969. Note that he was wearing an Omega Speedmaster Professional with applied logo dial on a JB Champion bracelet. (Photo: NASA)

July 1973, NASA organized a Skylab rescue mission and appointed Vance Brand and Don Lind as crew members. However, this mission was not required. Brand was the only Apollo-era astronaut to fly the Space Shuttle in the post-Challenger (Jan 1986) period. Note the Omega Speedmaster 105.012 chronograph on a JB Champion bracelet at his left wrist. (Photo: NASA)