I have had these couple of items from my dad’s time in the navy and thought some of y’all might find them interesting to take a look at, as most of us seem interested in not only the Speedmaster but the history and use behind it. My dad was serving aboard the USS Intrepid in 1962 when it recovered Scott Carpenter from a space flight. All the guys on board got a copy of the couple of images posted below. Unfortunately upon further research this was quite early in the Mercury space program, so no Speedmaster use. Carpenter actually worked with Breitling to develop a watch with a 24-hr dial that would allow him to distinguish between am/pm while orbiting the Earth and this is what he wore on the flight. Anyways hope y’all find some interest like I did. James
Rarely seen May 1962 photos of the US Navy recovery of astronaut Scott Carpenter MA-7 " Aurora-7 " Mercury mission aboard USS Intrepid. All Mercury 7 astronauts were often seen with Bulova Accutron Astronaut "Tuning fork" wrist watches in daily life but only Leroy Cooper wore a Bulova Accutron Astronaut on his MA-9 " Faith-7 " spaceflight... Indeed, a few days before the launch of MA-7, astronaut/naval aviator Scott Carpenter got his Breitling Cosmonaut Navitimer chronograph with 24-hour dial but the watch was severely water damaged during recovery... Also see: https://omegaforums.net/threads/no-love-for-breitling-on-of.73691/page-2#post-933024 & https://omegaforums.net/threads/hidden-gems-from-the-nasa-photo-archive.27812/
Thanks ! browsing my nasa photo collection available on Space Collectibles, I found this picture of Apollo 11 - Neil Armstrong Plays Ukulele. And another picture of him with his watch ...