The NASA history and its link with the speedmaster is already well known and described on other pages of this website, but the Speedmaster have been also choosen by people looking for a reliable sportswatch
here are some known or unknown people which have choosen the speedmaster for their actions or adventures
Russian Space Program
NASA is not the only space administration to have choosen the Omega Speedmaster professional to equip their austronauts. The former USSR had also choose the Omega speedmaster as their timekeeper from the Apollo-Soyuz missions
The MIR space station was permanently occupied for nearly 10 years, from 7 September 1989 until 28 August 1999. It welcomed numerous crews from many nations and served as a valuable research platform in space. The unmanned Russian cargo spacecraft Progress M-37, launched on 20 December 1997 at 08.45 GMT, delivered three OMEGA Speedmaster Professional watches to the station. One of the watches, the Speedmaster Professional "Moon Watch", has a considerable space pedigree, earning its nickname as the only watch to be worn on the moon, it was also the only watch to be flight-qualified by NASA for manned spaceflight missions and extra-vehicular (EVA) use. The other two watches were Speedmaster Professional X-33 multifunction quartz watches, developed in conjunction with astronauts, cosmonauts and professional pilots specifically to meet the requirements for use in space and chosen as the official watch of the MIR space station.
The watches were used as the main time reference on board the MIR space station and their presence offered a unique launch opportunity for OMEGA, with the X-33 presented to the world’s public live from MIR at the International Watch Clock and Jewellery Show in Basel, Switzerland on 25 April 1998. Ever since, MIR crews have come and gone, but the watches have remained. Their 616-day presence in space long exceeded even the record-breaking space residence of cosmonaut Valeri Vladimirovich Polyakov, who stayed on board MIR for an astonishing 437 days 17 hours 58 minutes and 31 seconds!
On
the 38th expedition to MIR, the Soyuz TM 29 spacecraft, which left the station
on 28 August 1999, brought with it MIR’s last permanent crew together with
these 3 OMEGA watches. All three watches are still in perfect working order
and had been in space for over three years without any servicing. The "Moon
Watch" had even completed 5 EVAs on the wrist of cosmonaut Talgat Musabayev,
one of the crew who presented the X-33 live from MIR in 1998.
Here are some pictures of Omega Speedmasters of the Russian cosmonauts on display at the Omega Museum in Bienne : Click on images for larger size
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X-33 of Alexender Afanasiev , 1997 Used during 616 days from December 1997 to august 1999 on board of MIR space station, back engraved "Not for sale prototype N° 04" |
X-33s of Serge Avdeiev (left) and Solovyev the first watch was also used in space during 616 days from December 1997 to august 1999, the second one used in 1998 by Solovyev on board of MIR |
Speedmaster 145.022 of Talgat Musabayev, 1997 Used on borad of MIR space station from 1997 to 1999 where the Cosmonaut uses this watch for performing 5 EVA. The Scotch tape which cover the watch was used to secure it |
Expeditions
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The Ralf Plaised Polar Expeditions : Ralph Plaisted worked in insurance in St. Paul, Minnesota. His interest in snowmobiles began in 1963, and he was rapidly convinced that a snowmobile could accomplish the “impossible” and take him on a journey to reach the North Pole by land. The Plaisted voyage began on March 7, 1968, with full news media coverage. On that day, the explorers left the last section of dry land before the Arctic Ocean, Ward Hunt Island in the Baffin area. Their destination lay 1330 kilometres ahead After 43 days – on April 19, 1968 – the four men determined their position with the aid of a sextant and their Omega Speedmaster professional : the Noth Pole the American Air Force, which had been following the expedition with airplanes and helicopters, confirmed that the team had reached the 90th parallel by land The Plaisted success was a milestone in conquering the Arctic. It was the first time that a motorized land vehicle had reached the most northerly point on the planet
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Reinhold Messner South Pole Raid :
Reinhold Messner and Arved Fuschs completed a dramatic traverse of the Antarctic continent in February 1990, after a 92-day, 2800-kilometer trek on foot. Through temperatures of -40C, and blizzards of up to 150 kph, they journeyed across the Thiel mountains to the South Pole, and from there to McMurdo Sound on the Ross Sea Equiped with a GPS and an Omega Speedmaster Professional, which can take over the function of the GPS in case of emergency, Messner and his compagnon Fuschs, a navigator with Artic experience acheived this unique cross of the Antartic on foot. "We wanted to give the Antartic a human magneture to prove people that it is finite" said Messner after surviving the adventure.
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Testemonials
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Parachuting … From "Omega Saga" Book : note : the Omega Saga book can be oredered on the Omega website : here Letter received from Mr Norbert Kandutsh in Germany "During a parachute jump on the 23rd of April 1963, one of the parachute line pulled off my speedmaster, braking the bracelet at 1600 feets. After 4 days of search, someone find it on the grass of the airfield, I wind it carefully … and to my highest surprise it was perfectly working"
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Rolled over by a … tank ! … From "SSC bulletin" Marco Richon: Letter received from a French Officier S.M. Palagos in November 1980 "I am the happy owner of a Speedmaster chronograph and here is what happened to my watch : I am a French Army officier, I was in a field operation in Jura when I lost my watch, the next week end I came back on site to try to find my watch and find it burried in the snow : a tank had roll over it ! .. Thank you for your outstanding quality , after 4 days in the cold and the snow and a monster of hundred ton roll over my watch it perfectly works ! , the bracelet was slightly banded but it was fixed … "
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Sports watch ! …. From a post of Filo on the speedmaster.nl forum : " I have been using his Speedmaster Professional as a daily watch for the last 37 years.... When I bought that watch the only other timepiece I had was a golden Omega (!!!) dress watch from my parents so from that moment on I only used the Speedy. I was a boy and liked to make sports so my Speedy … trained with me and I never thought of taking it off, also when swimming at sea (of course not when diving). It never failed me, except when I broke its glass and dial on a ski accident but was promptly repaired. Surprisingly the case is still in fairly good conditions, it doesn’t have mayjor scratches or blemishes. I also have to admit that I’m very "absent minded" as far as maintenance and service is concerned, that watch was was serviced no more than three times in 37 years. Am I a good example to follow? Not for sure! Have I been lucky? Most likely but one thing for sure: the Speedmaster is a hell of a sturdy watch! Cheers to all Filo" |
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Rugged watch From the webmaster : " I have been using a Speedmaster Professional since the early 90’s, the speedy pro was one of my very first mechanical chronograph, I bought it second hand and it was replacing my Seiko Quartz as my sporty watch. I have choose it as my action watch : it endures ski, motorbike, go kart races but also swimming, hot and cold temperatures … and it never fails. The watch was only serviced twice in more than 10 years and I doubt the previous owner ever service it. It continues to keep a very good time despite the small number of services and the treatment it have been faced to I by far prefer an hesalite crystal which will brake only in case of VERY severe shocks rather than a sapphire crystal for an action watch, I also apprecite a lot the "low profile" of the speedmaster which fit perfectly under gloves for motorbike or "cold" activities the last "story" my speedy endure was a trip to Hammerfest , the northernmost city in the world (70°40), the watch have been exposed to the very low temperature but also to rough field conditions : as I was in charge of an on field fiber optic installation and of course the watch survived perfectly well, it just need a little polish of the crystal after the trip Cheers JM" |
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