45 Years ago today Ron Evans lost his watch 12,830 miles from Earth...

[TLIGuy]

Just a little over 5 hours ago 45 years ago today Apollo 17 launched on the final mission to the Moon.

For any Apollo 17 fans, here is a fantastic website where you can check in and join the mission as it happen to the second with audio, photos, and videos for the next 13 days.

To experience the mission as it happen click here Join the Apollo 17 mission and join the mission by clicking the NOW button at the top right.

As I was checking in this morning Ron Evans had just lost his watch 12,830 miles from Earth.



Ron may have lost his but I still have mine.



TLIGuy signing out...

Edited: Dec 7, 2017

 

[dscoogs]

Awesome! Thanks you for sharing.

And a very nice watch😀 Is it a 105.012-66, aka the last watch worn on the moon?

 

[TLIGuy]

dscoogs

Is it a 105.012-66, aka the last watch worn on the moon?

No, just like one of Ron's it's an 861👍

 

[isaac.owen.nz]

Ok had a Google and couldn't find anything;

Anyone have the story on how he lost a watch in space?
(Looking at you tliguy?)
Ok perhaps I mistook that he lost it Outside the module and actually it was inside...

 

[TLIGuy]

isaac.owen.nz

....actually it was inside...

I’m assuming with everything going on inside the capsule during the first few hours as they settled in it probably came off his wrist and floated off for a bit.

 

[eugeneandresson]

Did the module he lost his watch in return to earth? Or was it left behind, floating in space...

 

[TLIGuy]

Okay, before this fun post with a witty title goes off the rails I really think what ever watch Evans is referring to just came off his wrist with everything going on. Lots of things happening in the first few hours with 3 guys in a space capsule the size of Volkswagen getting out of suits and putting things away I think he just noticed it wasn’t on his wrist and had a “O’h shit where’s my watch?” moment.

 

[dialstatic]

Ah what a shame. I was all ready to calculate the trajectory & find out where on earth this free Speedy had crash landed 😁

 

[WhatYourWatchSay]

Do they have the serial number in case it turns up on ebay 😁

 

[TJH]

dialstatic

Ah what a shame. I was all ready to calculate the trajectory & find out where on earth this free Speedy had crash landed 😁

Without trying to be a pedant, if it had fallen out of the Comman Module whilst on the way to the Moon, I think it would be orbiting the Sun? Experts in celestial mechanics please feel free to opine...

 

[dialstatic]

TJH

Without trying to be a pedant, if it had fallen out of the Comman Module whilst on the way to the Moon, I think it would be orbiting the Sun? Experts in celestial mechanics please feel free to opine...

I dunno...the quoted 12.800 miles at which he lost the watch is still well below geosychronous orbit altitude, so nowhere near high enough for the sun’s gravitation pull to win, methinks. I believe GPS satellites operate at approximately 13k miles, and they don’t seem to be going to the Sun according to my satnav.

Still, due to atmospheric drag the orbit would probably decay and our hypothetical Speedy would would have surely burnt up on re-entry. Happy to stand corrected on any of this by someone with actual knowledge of these things 😀

[EDIT] Ah, you mean that the watch would have a high speed in a direction away from earth upon being 'lost'. That's a good point, I think.

Edited: Dec 7, 2017

 

[TJH]

dialstatic

I dunno...the quoted 12.800 miles at which he lost the watch is still well below geosychronous orbit altitude, so nowhere near high enough for the sun’s gravitation pull to win, methinks. I believe GPS satellites operate at approximately 13k miles, and they don’t seem to be going to the Sun according to my satnav.

Still, due to atmospheric drag the orbit would probably decay and our hypothetical Speedy would would have surely burnt up on re-entry. Happy to stand corrected on any of this by someone with actual knowledge of these things 😀

[EDIT] Ah, you mean that the watch would have a high speed in a direction away from earth upon being 'lost'. That's a good point, I think.

Yes, exactly. My understanding is that the CSM/LEM had to make a burn to effectively slow down to insert into a Lunar orbit, otherwise they would have continued past the Moon and ultimately ended up in Solar orbit like the separated S-IVBs stages. So if an object had fallen out of the capsule it would have continued on its merry (Speedy) way...

 

[Stewart H]

Sounds like an insurance scam to me. 😝

 

[Foo2rama]

@TLIGuy

861? I thought the only confirmed 861 was part of a test package.

 

[TLIGuy]

Foo2rama

@TLIGuy

861? I thought the only confirmed 861 was part of a test package.

That 861 for the test package is confirmed and that is what I was referring to.

I will stand by my research that there is still an uncounted for 3rd Evans Speedmaster which I believe is an 861 out there that I'm still working on confirming. That's why I say "like one of Ron's" since I believe he had his own personal Speedmaster as well as his personal Rolex on Apollo 17.

 

[Edward53]

Just checked under my bed. No, it's not there. Sorry Ron.

 

[Golfjunky]

amazing website, thanks for sharing

 

[kkt]

TJH

Without trying to be a pedant, if it had fallen out of the Comman Module whilst on the way to the Moon, I think it would be orbiting the Sun? Experts in celestial mechanics please feel free to opine...

Remember the Apollo XIII mission - without firing the main engines, the rocket goes up, swings around the moon, and then returns to earth. In order to go into the moon's orbit, they have to fire the main engines. So I think a watch dumped out of the CM on the way to the moon ends up either burning up reentering the Earth's atmisphere, or shooting past the Earth and eventually entering a large independent orbit of the Earth.

But I am not a rocket scientist.

 

[t_swiss_t]

TLIGuy

No, just like one of Ron's it's an 861👍

861 with a teardrop chrono?

 

[TLIGuy]

ahantel

861 with a teardrop chrono?

An 861 indeed. Plenty of examples of 1968 Transitional Speedmasters with teardrop chronograph hands out there.

For those following along Cernan and Schmitt have just finished lunch on the Moon's surface and in just under two hours from now at 6:54pm EST they will start their watches and head out onto the surface on the Moon beginning EVA-1.