#omegamuseum

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)

Cosmonaut Vladimir Dzhanibekov enjoyed his Omega Speedmaster chronographs. 1978 Soyuz 27 training photos of Vladimir Dzhanibekov show him wearing a “ 125 years Omega Speedmaster ” reference ST 378.0801. The “Speedy 125″, issued in 1973,  was the first chronometer-certified wrist chronograph. Dzhanibekov certainly wore a Speedmaster 145.022  on Soyuz 39 to Salyut 6 in March 1981, the “Intercosmos” mission with Mongolia. This image shows Dzhanibekov wearing a “ 125 years Omega Speedmaster “ during the Soyuz T-6 mission aboard the Salyut 7 space station in June 1982... (Photo: RKA/TASS)

Upon request, a higher resolution photo of the NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster 105.012 chronograph #57 for Apollo 12 CMP Richard Gordon, shown as it was on display at the former Omega Museum in Bienne - Switzerland. US Navy Captain Gordon passed away on monday 7th November 2017, aged 88...   R.I.P. (Photo: MoonwatchUniverse)

November 14, 1930 ... Happy 90th birthday astronaut Edward White ! Today would have been the 90th birthday of NASA astronaut Edward H. White, who made the first US spacewalk in June 1965. A true American hero, Ed White was selected in NASA astronaut Group 2 but he died in the Apollo 1 pad fire in January 1967. This photo shows astronaut White holding a picture of JFK while attending a ceremony at Brooks Air Force Base in June 1965. A week after the Gemini IV spaceflight mission, Edward White still wore one of his pair of NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster 105.003-63 chronograph on a velcro strap. (Photo: USAF/UPI)

October 1968... Apollo 7, first Apollo carrying a crew into space. Omega Speedmaster 321 chronograph aka the Moonwatch next to an embroidered bullion patch with the 1968 Apollo 7 mission logo. The Apollo 7 logo was designed by Allen Stevens of North American Rockwell and shown for the first time in June 1968. The successful Apollo 7 mission lasted 10 days 20 hours and gave NASA the confidence to swap the planned Apollo 8 & 9 missions so an Apollo crew could orbit the Moon by December 1968 ! (Photo: MoonwatchUniverse)

40 years ago... 1980, September 18 - 26... Soyuz 38 to Salyut-6 On September 18, 1980 the Soyuz 38 crew was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the Salyut-6 space station. It was the seventh Interkosmos mission, this time flying a cosmonaut from Cuba, Arnaldo Tamayo Mendez together with commander Yuri Romanenko who made his second spaceflight. Romanenko was an experienced Air Force pilot who went on to make 3 spaceflight missions and became director of the Russian Buran shuttle program. Tamayo Mendez was the first hispanophone & person from African descent to fly in space, he wore a Seiko Bell Matic Daydate wristwatch. Romanenko wore his Omega 861 Speedmaster chronograph, which he received as a support-cosmonaut on ASTP in 1973-74 . (Photo: TASS)

Apollo 13 Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise assumed an old-fashioned rest position during a short break in a lunar EVA training simulation exercises for the third intended Moon landing mission. Note the NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster chronograph on long velcro strap over the right forearm of the A7L space suit. (Photo: NASA)

June 1966, preparations for the 8th manned Gemini mission... Gemini X Official NASA Gemini X crewportrait, John Young & Michael Collins, note the Speedmaster chronograph on Young’s inner forearm and the colors in the dial of the spacesuit pressure valve. Main objectives were testing the AMU backpack and checking out EVA - spacewalk techniques as Michael Collins would perform the first standup EVA before using the HHMU “zipgun” on a second 40-minutes spacewalk. A wristwatch-wise interesting fact; Michael Collins was the first NASA astronaut to wear a watch underneath the spacesuit as pre-launch suitup and post-recovery photos show him wearing a NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster chronograph on his righthand wrist. Gemini X launched on July 18 and landed on July 21, 1966 recovered East of the Bahamas by the USS Guadalcanal. (Photo: NASA)