Time travel

The watch that took Apollo 11 to the moon and back

The Apollo 11 Saturn V was launched into space on July 16, 1969, from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. It was televised live in 33 countries around the world and watched by one million spectators from the nearby beaches and highways. The three-stage liquid-propellant super heavy-lift launch vehicle was at the cutting-edge of space race technologies.

“We suited up, marched out, got in the van and waved to people,” said Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, who would pilot the lunar module. “My crewmates went in, and I stood out there for maybe five, ten minutes — it seemed like quite a while — all by myself, looking out and seeing the sun come up and the waves come in, and the frost come off the rocket. I consciously said to myself, I want to remember this moment.”

All three astronauts, including Aldrin, commander Neil Armstrong and command module pilot Michael Collins, wore the OMEGA Speedmaster on their wrists.

Five years earlier, NASA’s program office had gone in search of one watch that it could rely on for all manned missions. The director of flight crew operations, Deke Slayton, issued a request to different watch manufacturers around the world for it to trial wrist-worn chronographs. Several brands submitted their timepieces for the punishing tests — but only the OMEGA Speedmaster survived. It was declared “Flight Qualified for all Manned Space Missions” on March 1, 1965.

The NASA tests had conclusively demonstrated the Speedmaster’s robustness in all conditions. The trials included thermal tests (between 93° and -18° centigrade), shock, vibration and testing to see how the watch would perform in the vacuum of space. Ten different environments were tested individually for the Speedmaster — and it passed every single one.

By 1969, NASA had adopted the most recent versions of the Speedmaster, including the ST 105.012 and ST 145.012. It was these two models that were worn by the Apollo 11 astronauts during the mission.

On July 20, with less than a minute of fuel remaining, Armstrong and Aldrin landed at “Tranquillity Base” on the lunar surface. Every piece of equipment had performed beautifully during the descent, including the trusted OMEGA Speedmaster.

Even before Apollo 11, the OMEGA Speedmaster had been a vital tool aboard each of NASA’s manned missions, including those in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs.

On July 22, after more than 21.5 hours on the lunar surface, Armstrong and Aldrin lifted off in the lunar module’s ascent stage, carrying 21.55 kilograms of moon samples. They met the command module in lunar orbit, along with Michael Collins, who had been waiting for them while flying solo around the moon. Collins later said, “Not since Adam has any human known such solitude.”

 

The journey home, however, was not a farewell for the Speedmaster. The watch returned to the moon for all of the future lunar landings, including Apollo 12, Apollo 14, Apollo 15, Apollo 16 and Apollo 17. To this very day, only 12 men have walked on the moon, and the Speedmaster has been there for every step.

As part of the Apollo 11 celebrations, OMEGA held a memorable “Astronaut Appreciation Dinner” on November 25 that year. Each of NASA’s serving astronauts was presented with a unique numbered edition Speedmaster in 18K yellow gold. The model has this year been reborn to commemorate 50 years since the first moon landing.

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