#komfitforstner

[moonwatchuniverse]

May 1963, Mercury astronaut Leroy Gordon Cooper is seen at the top of Pad 14 looking over his one-man “Faith-7″ spacecraft. Cooper choose to wear both his personal wrist watches, an Accutron Astronaut tuning fork GMT pilotwatch at his right wrist and an Omega Speedmaster CK2998-4 chronograph at his left wrist. Both watches had a Jacoby Bender Champion steel mesh bracelet and Cooper compared his timepieces during the 34 hours 3 min 30 seconds mission. (Photo: NASA)  

[moonwatchuniverse]

October 27, 1966 Apollo 1 crewmen Virgil “Gus” Grissom and Edward “Ed” White relaxing aboard the NASA Motor Vessel Retriever during water egress training activities in the Gulf of Mexico. Both men, together with Roger Chaffee, made up the prime crew for Apollo/Saturn Mission 204, the first manned Apollo space flight of NASA’s Moon program. Note that Ed White wore a NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster chronograph on a steel mesh JB Champion bracelet. (Photo: NASA)

[moonwatchuniverse]

MoonwatchUniverse brings articles on the history of aviator, pilot & spacefarer’s wrist watches with the focus on time-period photographs, which for NASA images are well-documented and come with an official NASA photo number. Reliable background information on the topic of pilots & astronauts’ wristwatches. Check this example on the Accutron Astronaut tuning fork movement GMT pilot watch as worn by  CIA test pilots flying the Lockheed A12 (1962), NASA test pilots flying the North American Aviation X-15 (1959-1968) and astronauts Wally Schirra (1962), Gordon Cooper (1963), Virgil Grissom & John Young (Gemini III) and Norman Thagard on STS-7 Challenger in 1983. (Photo: MoonwatchUniverse)

[moonwatchuniverse]

March 25, 1965 space twins Gemini III astronauts John Young and Virgil Grissom illustrated the maneuvers of their “Molly Brown” spacecraft during their three orbit flight. Note that Grissom wore an Omega Speedmaster 105.003-64 chronograph on a steel mesh Komfit Forstner bracelet on the inside of his left wrist. (Photo: NASA)

[moonwatchuniverse]

March 23, 1965  Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Gemini III command-pilot, being assisted by NASA Suit Technicians in the Gemini Crew Ready Room in a trailer located at Pad 16 on the morning of the GT-3 flight. Note he clearly wore a Bulova Accutron Astronaut tuning fork wrist watch on a Komfit Forstner bracelet at his right wrist. (Photo: NASA)

[moonwatchuniverse]

1965, USAF Major Virgil Ivan “Gus” Grissom wearing a Bulova Accutron Astronaut tuning fork wrist watch during a Press briefing. One of the original “Mercury 7″ astronauts, Grissom was assigned as command-pilot for the first 2-men Gemini III mission. Note the watch was attached to a steel mesh Komfit Forstner bracelet. This kind of bracelet, and later the JB Champion version, rose to fame when it was adopted by NASA astronauts during the Gemini & Apollo space missions. (Photo: NASA)

[wristwatchlover]

55 years ago astronaut Leroy Cooper was launched aboard Mercury-Atlas 9 nicknamed Faith-7 for the final one man Mercury mission. During this 34 hours 19 minutes long mission Gordo Cooper took the time to compare his Accutron Astronaut tuning fork watch with his manual winding Omega Speedmaster CK2998-4 chronograph. Both watches were worn over the space suit with a lightweight steel mesh JB Champion bracelet. In 1963, the Komfit Forstner firm was taken over by Jacoby Bender Champion and the steel mesh bracelets became a favorite with Gemini & Apollo program astronauts as they were allowed to wear these during space missions. (Photo: MoonWatchUniverse)