Less than 50 days to go... 50 years NASA Snoopy award for Omega
On October 5, 1970 NASA astronaut Thomas Stafford presented the NASA Snoopy award to Omega Watches in recognition of the role the Omega Speedmaster chronograph played onboard the Apollo 13 mission as it was used to time the 14 seconds LM-DPS burn on April 16, 1970 to correctly align the spacecraft for re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
NASA’s ( Silver ) Snoopy award expresses special appreciation "For professionalism, dedication and outstanding support that greatly enhanced space flight safety and mission success !”
Omega already produced a Snoopy Speedmaster in 2003 and 2015 but announced another Snoopy Speedmaster to commemorate “ 50 years NASA Snoopy award for the Omega Speedmaster “ ... a Gold anniversary... to be revealed October 5, 2020 ... ““ Eyes on the Stars ““ !
(Photo: MoonwatchUniverse)
Astronaut Don Peterson, who first trained for a classified space station before he became one of the first people to spacewalk from the space shuttle, has died at 84. Peterson was chosen for the Manned Orbiting Lab but flew on shuttle Challenger's maiden mission.
Don Peterson, a USAF pilot who trained for the MOL program and NASA astronaut who flew on STS-6, passed away over the weekend at 84 years old. Peterson was part of the third group of Air Force pilots assigned to train for the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program in 1967. He transferred to NASA in 1969 after the cancellation of MOL program and served on the astronaut support crew for Apollo 16. Peterson performed the first space shuttle EVA along with Story Musgrave during STS-6 in 1983, a spaceflight with one of the oldest and most experienced crews in NASA history (111 years of aviation experience between the four-man crew).
Though I personally don’t know a lot about Don Peterson’s career and experiences at NASA, some of my undergrad research has focused on the MOL program and I’ve been fortunate to learn about his friendship with Robert Lawrence, the first African-American astronaut. Bob and Don both joined MOL in 1967 as part of the third group of USAF astronauts assigned to the program. Don was born and raised in Winona, Mississippi, part of the Deep South, and as the only Southerner in the selection group he was often asked by reporters if he had any problems working with another black astronaut, to which he replied: “Not in my case. I can’t speak for all the people in Mississippi, but I personally don’t feel that way... Incidentally, Major Lawrence and I roomed together last night.” (New York Times, July 1, 1967).
Maj. Lawrence was killed in an F-104 Starfighter crash just months after his MOL selection, but during that short time he and Don Peterson trained, worked, traveled, and sometimes boarded together. In a 2002 oral history for the Johnson Space Center, Don spoke about their experiences:
“I used to travel with a black fellow who was later killed, a super guy, named Bob Lawrence. It was kind of funny, in those days, of course, we were much younger, and we both had crew cuts, and we’d go someplace. Young white and black guys together in those days weren’t as common as it is today. We found a couple of interesting things. There were restaurants that wouldn’t serve him, and there were restaurants that wouldn’t serve me. In other words, he was welcome, but I really wasn’t. Nobody ever really threw us out or threatened violence, but they’d just ignore us.
We stopped at a service station one time to get gas, and this young attendant came out. We were in trench coats, both of us... He came out, looked us all over real good, and come over quietly and said, ‘F.B.I.?’ and I said, ‘No.’ I know he’d been watching [I Spy, a show about a pair of white and black undercover agents that aired on NBC in the 1960s]. He stood around a minute and said, ‘C.I.A.?’ and I said, ‘No.’ And he said, ‘Oh, okay,’ like, ‘You know, I know you are, but that’s all right.’ But it was really hilarious.
Bob was a super guy. His death was a terrible tragedy.”
USAF test pilot & Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot (CMP) Alfred Worden onboard NASA recovery training craft MV Retriever in a light blue NASA flight suit wearing a NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster Professional chronograph.
Note Worden’s Speedmaster had a “60 minutes “ bezel as he said the Tachymètre had no practical use. The Speedmaster sat on a Jacoby Bender Champion steel mesh bracelet, chosen as it could be easily broken to free a trapped arm of an astronaut. It became a favorite with all Apollo astronauts in the late 1960s early 1970s.
Alfred Worden passed away on March 18, 2020.
(Photo: NASA)
Alfred Worden signed Apollo 15 artwork print, showing commander David Scott, Command Module Pilot James Irwin and Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin.
Three 20th century Omega Speedmaster chronograph wristwatches, cal 321, 861 and 1861, the only worthy generation Omega timepieces in a manned spaceflight related display...
(Photo: MoonwatchUniverse)
1971 Apollo 15 artwork print as presented by NASA.
This drawing shows the Apollo 15 astronauts at work, Moonwalkers David Scott & James Irwin on the lunar surface and CMP Alfred Worden conducting science from orbit and performing a deepspace EVA-spacewalk to retrieve film cassettes from the panoramic and mapping cameras in the scientific instruments bay of Endeavour.
Nice touch is the fact that the artist didn’t forget the NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster chronographs in this outstanding artwork!
(Photo: NASA/BertWinthrop)
Talking about ladies wrist watches... MoonwatchUniverse has always wondered which little gem of a watch was worn by the well-known Mercury & Gemini astronauts' nurse miss Dolores "Dee" O'Hara ...
It was "Lady Elgin" Diamond 14K White Gold Women's watch (1962).
60 years ago USAF Lieutenant O’Hara O'Hara became the first Staff Nurse of the NASA Mercury program and participated in every launch in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs.
Remember in 1970 she was involved in the decision to ground astronaut Ken Mattingly due to the concern he might have contracted German measles... On Apollo 13 he was replaced by John Jack Swigert. After the Skylab space station program, she was also invited to participate in the Apollo-Soyuz Test Program (ASTP) and the first shuttle flight in 1981 ! (Photo: NASA).
Mercury program
1962 MA-6 Friendship-7
John Glenn wore a Heuer 2915 stopwatch strapped on his right forearm ®
1962 MA-7 Aurora-7
Scott Carpenter wore a Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaute chronograph with 24 hours dial at left wrist (L)
1962 MA-8 Sigma-7
Walter Schirra wore his personal Omega Speedmaster CK2998-4 on his left wrist (L)
1963 MA-9 Faith-7
Gordon Cooper wore his personal Omega Speedmaster CK2998-4 on left (L) & his Accutron Astronaut watch at right wrist ®
Gemini program
1965 Gemini III
Gus Grissom L= Speedmaster R= Accutron Astronaut
John Young L= Accutron Astronaut R= Speedmaster
1965 Gemini IV
Ed White L= two Speedmaster 105.003-64
Jim McDivitt L= Speedmaster + R= Speedmaster
1965 Gemini V
Gordon Cooper L= Speedmaster + R = Accutron Astronaut
Pete Conrad L= Speedmaster + R= Speedmaster & Glycine Airman
1965 Gemini VII
Frank Borman L= Speedmaster
James Lovell R= Speedmaster
1965 Gemini VI
Walter Schirra L= Speedmaster
Tom Stafford L= Speedmaster R= Speedmaster
1966 Gemini VIII
Neil Armstrong L= Speedmaster + R= Longines Wittnauer Weems
David Scott L= Speedmaster
1966 Gemini IX
Tom Stafford L= Speedmaster
Eugene Cernan L= Speedmaster
1966 Gemini X
John Young L= Speedmaster
Michael Collins none ? ( R= Speedmaster underneath spacesuit )
1966 Gemini XI
Pete Conrad L= Speedmaster + R= Glycine Airman
Richard Gordon R= Speedmaster
1966 Gemini XII
James Lovell R= Speedmaster
Edwin Aldrin R= Speedmaster
Apollo program
1967 Apollo 1
Gus Grissom , Edward White , Roger Chaffee L= Speedmaster
1968 Apollo 7
Walter Schirra L= Speedmaster
Donn Eisele L= Speedmaster R= Speedmaster
Walter Cunningham L= Speedmaster
1968 Apollo 8
Frank Borman L= Speedmaster
James Lovell R= Speedmaster
William Anders L= Speedmaster
1969 Apollo 9
Jim McDivitt , David Scott , Russell Schweickaert L= Speedmaster
1969 Apollo 10
Tom Stafford L= Speedmaster
John Young L= Speedmaster ( L underneath spacesuit Speedmaster on JB Champion )
Eugene Cernan L= Speedmaster ( L underneath spacesuit Speedmaster on JB Champion )
1969 Apollo 11
Neil Armstrong R= Speedmaster
Edwin Aldrin L= Speedmaster
Michael Collins R = Speedmaster
1969 Apollo 12
Pete Conrad L= Speedmaster
Alan Bean L= Speedmaster
Richard Gordon L= Speedmaster ( R underneath spacesuit Speedmaster on JB Champion )
1970 Apollo 13
James Lovell R= Speedmaster
Fred Haise L= Speedmaster
Jack Swigert L= Speedmaster ( L underneath spacesuit Rolex GMT-master 1675 Pepsi )
1971 Apollo 14
Alan Shepard L= Speedmaster
Edgar Mitchell L= Speedmaster ( L + R underneath spacesuit Rolex GMT-master 1675 + 1675/3 )
Stu Roosa L= Speedmaster ( L underneath spacesuit Rolex GMT-master 1675 Pepsi )
1971 Apollo 15
David Scott L= Speedmaster ( PPK contained Bulova 88510 chronograph worn on the Moon )
James Irwin L = Speedmaster
Alfred Worden L= Speedmaster
1972 Apollo 16
John Young L= Speedmaster
Charles Duke L= Speedmaster ( L underneath spacesuit Speedmaster )
Thomas Mattingly L= Speedmaster
1972 Apollo 17
Eugene Cernan L= Speedmaster ( L underneath spacesuit Speedmaster on JB Champion
Harrison Schmitt L= Speedmaster
Ron Evans L= Speedmaster ( L underneath spacesuit personal Speedmaster 145.022 ) ( PPK contained Rolex GMT-master Pepsi 1675 carried to the Moon )
Skylab program
1973 Skylab-2
Pete Conrad, Joseph Kerwin, Paul Weitz L= Speedmaster
1973 Skylab-3
Alan Bean L= Speedmaster
Owen Garriott L= Speedmaster
( PPK contained Seiko wristwatches )
Jack Lousma L= Speedmaster ( L underneath spacesuit 2nd Speedmaster )
1973 Skylab-4
Gerald Carr L= Speedmaster
Edward Gibson L= Speedmaster( L underneath spacesuit 2nd Speedmaster )
William Pogue L= Speedmaster
L underneath spacesuit Seiko 6139-6005 first automatic chronograph in space
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
1975 ASTP
Thomas Stafford R= Speedmaster ( L underneath spacesuit 2nd Speedmaster)
Deke Slayton L= Speedmaster ( L underneath spacesuit 2nd Speedmaster)
Vance Brand L= Speedmaster ( L underneath spacesuit 2nd Speedmaster)
Alexei Leonov L= Speedmaster ( L underneath spacesuit 2nd Speedmaster) + 3rd Speedy
Valeri Kubasov L= Speedmaster ( L underneath spacesuit 2nd Speedmaster)
October must be the month during which we celebrate Charles Chuck Yeager’s historic achievement of breaking the sound barrier in level flight on October 14 ,1947. Air Corps Captain Yeager took the Bell X1 rocket plane beyond buffeting transonic phenomena, he became the first to create a sonic boom over Muroc Army Airfield, nowadays Edwards AFB in California. For the first time supersonic flight, at Mach 1.06 (807 Mph or 1300 km/h) was recorded as Yeager remained supersonic for 20 seconds before shutting down the engines. By October 1947, the Air Force became a separate military service. The image shows an Accutron Astronaut tuning fork GMT wristwatch, which was issued to both military & civilian test pilots. 1960s Topping desktop scale model of the Northrop T-38 Talon jet. The T-38 has been used since 1959 so it’s celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2019!
(Photo: MoonwatchUniverse)
Space Age pilot & astronaut/cosmonaut watches podcast:
https://www.time4apint.com/podcast/the-time-4a-pint-podcast-episode-52
