40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing

by Marco on 16 July, 2009

40 Years Since Mankind Took a Giant Leap while Wearing an Omega Speedmaster

July 16th 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11 set to land on the moon. The trip from Earth to the Moon and back took a total of eight days, and the crew of Apollo 11 only walked on our cheesy-faced satellite for only two and a half hours, but as Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin stated: "In (that) one moment, the world came together in peace for all mankind."

Aside from Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong, and Buzz Aldrin, becoming household names since the Lunar landing, the Omega Speedmaster also took its place as a legend of space flight. In order to find the most suitable watch for their missions, NASA purchased several models from local jewellers and subjected them all to very strenuous tests. I've read articles in the past stating why the Breitling Cosmonaut, for instance, should have been used. These articles made some good points, but the Speedy was the only watch in the collection that included Rolex Bulova, Breitling, Longines and a few others, to pass all the tests satisfactorily. Omega decided to append the word "Professional" to its Speedmaster after hearing about this performance.

Today, watchmaking technology is way beyond what it was in the sixties. Watches like the Bell & Ross BR-02s would probably fare better then the Speedy Pro did during the high humidity, extreme pressure, and extreme temperature tests. Many NASA astronauts continue to use the Omega Speedmaster Professional.

References

  • Video and images on the NASA site: click here
  • Great Images at Boston.com: click here

 

Related tags: anniversary, apollo 11, nasa, neil armstrong, omega, professional, speedmaster

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