#ck2998

On this date… November 15 1961, November 15 saw the production of an Omega Speedmaster CK2998-4 chronograph serial 17.650.054 destined for the US market. 1962, March 20 this CK2998-4 was bought by NASA astronaut Walter "Wally" Schirra, one of the original "Mercury 7" astronauts. Like Donald "Deke" Slayton, Schirra was a sportscar fan and both astronauts had a personal Omega Speedmaster CK2998 chronograph with Gordon "Gordo" Cooper buying his CK2998-4 in November 1962. Schirra's CK2998-4 can be seen in April & May 1962 NASA photographs as he was training as a backup for the MA-7 "Aurora 7" mission of fellow Naval aviator "Mercury 7" astronaut Scott Carpenter. On October 3, 1962 Schirra wore his personal Speedmaster CK2998-4 onboard the MA-8 "Sigma 7" mission during 9 hours 13 minutes and it became known as the FOIS - First Omega In Space. Post-flight NASA photographs show that Schirra continued to wear his space-flown CK2998-4 regularly to at least April 1966, as summer 1966 he often wore other wrist watches. Anno 2025, the FOIS CK2998-4 is on display at the Omega museum near the Omega watches headquarters in Bienne / Biel - canton Bern in Switzerland. (Photos: MoonwatchUniverse)

CK2998 speedmaster

Bronze or ceramic, I love me some #chronos 😛 One of my top five fav #speedys for #speedytuesday, the #darksideofthemoon 😈 Top five must include the #ck2998, #alaskaproject, last year's blue #tripplecalendar #moonphase and a #broadarrow with moonphase 😍 What are your favorites, #WatchFam? (#moonwatch stickers from @watchesandpencils 😁) #SpanishRobHC #Speedy #speedmaster #watchesandpencils (at Omega Boutique)

March 8, 1966 last time we clearly saw the "Sigma 7" FOIS ? Mercury 7 astronaut US Navy aviator Walter "Wally" Schirra and his personal 1961 Omega Speedmaster CK2998-4, 17.650.054, worn during Sigma 7, used for SCUBA diving, bezelless since 1965, last seen on his wrist in 1966. Collage of a bespoke artwork for MoonwatchUniverse, LIFE photos of Schirra diving in his pool and Schirra at a handprint ceremony during the 1966 Gemini World Tour at the NASA Carnarvon tracking station near Perth - Australia. Between 22 February and March 1966, Walter Schirra and Frank Borman visited 8 countries during their 24 days long Far East Gemini Goodwill tour, visiting Australia between March 7 - 12. The Australians had rolled out two plum-colored Rolls-Royce convertibles procured for an earlier visit by Queen Elizabeth II in 1963. At Carnarvon, Schirra rolling up his sleeves clearly showed the bezelless Speedmaster CK2998-4. October 1966 onwards, as Schirra, Stafford and Lovell were awarded a US Navy logo dial Rolex GMT-master 1675 pilot watch, Schirra preferred to wear the Rolex GMT-master, also his Rolex Daytona 6240 and occasionally his Gold Apollo 11 tribute Speedmaster n° 8. Since 1994, MoonwatchUniverse has been working on a dozen "astronaut case studies" using official press & NASA photographs in order to find out when well-known NASA astronauts (Aldrin, Armstrong, Borman, Carpenter, Cernan, Collins, Lovell, Mitchell, Shepard, Schirra, Swigert, White) were introduced to the Omega Speedmaster and perhaps more interesting what they wore before those days during NASA training… (Photos: NASA/LIFE)

On this date... October 3 1962, October 3 backup astronaut Gordon "Gordo" Cooper says goodbye after helping to strap in Mercury-Atlas 8 astronaut Walter "Wally" Schirra for the "Sigma 7" mission. US Navy LtCdr Schirra wanted the mission to focus on operational status and not to carry too much "Larry Lightbulb" scientific instruments distracting the astronaut. Schirra wore his personal Omega Speedmaster CK2998-4 which was produced in November 1961 and which he had bought in April 1962. The chronograph performed flawlessly during the six orbits long mission and Schirra continued using the Speedmaster during Gemini training. In this NASA photograph, Cooper was wearing his battery-powered tuning fork movement Accutron Astronaut GMT pilot watch which he would wear in May 1963 during "Faith 7" together with his personal manual winding Omega Speedmaster CK2998-4 in order to compare both wrist watches. (Photo: MoonwatchUniverse/ NASA S62-6062)

Omega Speedmaster CK2998... "Mercury 7" astronaut Leroy "Gordo" Cooper, Slayton and Schirra, were petrol heads and that's the main reason why they had an Omega Speedmaster wrist watch which was advertised as a sports car racing timing chronograph. NASA photographs suggest that the astronauts must have bought their Speedmaster CK2998 in 1961, Cooper perhaps in 1962. 60 years ago, Donald Slayton expressed the need for an "off the shelf" durable accurate wrist chronograph for use in the hostile space environment and on the the lunar surface. By October 1964, this memorandum landed at the desk of NASA engineer James Ragan, who determined a set of requirements and contacted 10 different watch brands to submit a request for proposal; American Elgin, Benrus, Bulova, Gruen, Hamilton, Lucien Piccard, Longines, Mido, Omega and Rolex. Only 4 brands answered, 3 sent actual wrist chronographs, the rest is history ! (Photo: LIFE magazine)

NASA astronaut chief Donald Slayton USAF Captain Donald Kent "Deke" Slayton (1924-1993) was one of the 1959 original NASA astronauts, the “ Mercury 7 “ before he was put on non-flight status on March 15, 1962 for medical reasons. He became senior manager of the astronaut office, selecting crew rotations. Fast forward to March 13, 1972 as Donald Slayton regained NASA flight status and was selected to fly as DMP - Docking Module Pilot to fly during the July 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission. This 1965 photo show Donald Slayton wearing an Omega Speedmaster CK2998 chronograph, a watch he wore since 1962. Moreover, Slayton liked his wrist watches as he wore Breitling, Omega and the battery-powered tuning fork Accutron "Astronaut" pilot watches. Together with Walter Schirra and Gordon Cooper, he was among the first NASA astronauts to wear an Omega Speedmaster because of their shared interest in racing cars. USAF Major Slayton officially retired from NASA in 1980 but continued to serve in an advisory role for the first Space Shuttle test flights in 1981. (Photo: NASA)

March 1963, Omega Speedmaster & Faith-7 training Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper is seen getting some help from NASA suit technician Al Rochford, during suiting up for preflight tests in Hangar S at Cape Canaveral. USAF Major Leroy Cooper choose to wear his personal wrist watches, an Omega Speedmaster CK2998-4 manual winding chronograph on a steel mesh bracelet over his left wrist, and an Accutron Astronaut GMT pilot watch. During the 22 orbits May 1963 mission, lasting 34 hours 10 minutes, Leroy "Gordo" Cooper compared these wrist watches and both worked flawlessly! Two years later, the Omega Speedmaster 105.003 chronograph was qualified for the upcoming Gemini and Apollo spaceflight programs. Pre-Apollo 11, 97 Speedies were delivered in 4 batches. MoonwatchUniverse has been working on the complete history of Omega deliveries to NASA and on the subject on internal distribution of the Omega Speedmaster chronograph within the Gemini and Apollo spaceflight programs! (Photo: NASA)