George on the Moon
Another oldie from the archives, taken back in August 2019. It was one of those "Should I take the camera out, or will it look stupid?" moments, but the life-sized astronaut figure (gold-coloured, of course) was a subject too special to not take a few snapshots, especially together with the huge standee with a photo of George Clooney and his Omega Speedmaster in the jeweller's entrance. Obviously, this was an Omega promotion event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of 1969's Apollo 11 mission to the Moon. The Speedmaster was the watch NASA had officially certified for all its manned space flights. But it was only Buzz Aldrich who wore the Speedmaster on the first-ever moonwalk. Neil Armstrong had left his watch on the Eagle, as a backup because the mission timer onboard the Eagle had malfunctioned.
The Speedmaster also played an important part in the dramatic Apollo 13 mission ("Houston, we have a problem!") where it saved the lives of the crew of three by accurately timing the ignition that would bring the stricken ship safely back to Earth. An oxygen tank had exploded which resulted in an immediate mission call-off. To save energy for the now necessary manually-stirred trip home to Earth, the electricity onboard had been switched off, mission timer included. Jack Swigert operated his Speedmaster to time the precise ignition (14 seconds sharp) while the other two astronauts, Jim Lowell and Fred Haise, navigated the space shuttle that, on top of it all, had also lost directions, toward Earth. Successfully.
But did you know that there is another Moon watch that a NASA astronaut had worn on the Moon? David Scott, a member of the Apollo 15 crew, wore a Bulova chronograph during his 1971 moonwalk. The crystal of his Speedmaster had popped off, so he wore his Bulova which he had taken to the mission as a backup. In 2021, Bulova reissued that watch under the name "Lunar Pilot".
George on the Moon
Another oldie from the archives, taken back in August 2019. It was one of those "Should I take the camera out, or will it look stupid?" moments, but the life-sized astronaut figure (gold-coloured, of course) was a subject too special to not take a few snapshots, especially together with the huge standee with a photo of George Clooney and his Omega Speedmaster in the jeweller's entrance. Obviously, this was an Omega promotion event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of 1969's Apollo 11 mission to the Moon. The Speedmaster was the watch NASA had officially certified for all its manned space flights. But it was only Buzz Aldrich who wore the Speedmaster on the first-ever moonwalk. Neil Armstrong had left his watch on the Eagle, as a backup because the mission timer onboard the Eagle had malfunctioned.
The Speedmaster also played an important part in the dramatic Apollo 13 mission ("Houston, we have a problem!") where it saved the lives of the crew of three by accurately timing the ignition that would bring the stricken ship safely back to Earth. An oxygen tank had exploded which resulted in an immediate mission call-off. To save energy for the now necessary manually-stirred trip home to Earth, the electricity onboard had been switched off, mission timer included. Jack Swigert operated his Speedmaster to time the precise ignition (14 seconds sharp) while the other two astronauts, Jim Lowell and Fred Haise, navigated the space shuttle that, on top of it all, had also lost directions, toward Earth. Successfully.
But did you know that there is another Moon watch that a NASA astronaut had worn on the Moon? David Scott, a member of the Apollo 15 crew, wore a Bulova chronograph during his 1971 moonwalk. The crystal of his Speedmaster had popped off, so he wore his Bulova which he had taken to the mission as a backup. In 2021, Bulova reissued that watch under the name "Lunar Pilot".