Community Stories

Astronauts wore Rolex GMT's and not just Speedmasters. Say it isn't so...

SpeedyPhill
Posts
6,700
Likes
12,318
Another try to go 18 years back in time... March 2002, STS-109 shuttle Columbia was Scott Altman third NASA spaceflight and as commander of this Hubble Space Telescope mission he wore a Rolex GMT-master Rootbeer pilot watch... Also note the NASA actiwatch next to it (photo: NASA)
.
NASA_Rolex.jpg
 
RedMac
Posts
46
Likes
82
Having done a lot of historical research for books, articles, and papers such as the MIT white paper, "The Future of Human Spaceflight, it is common courtesy as well as a requirement to credit the original researcher for his or her efforts. It helps in future research.
 
cvalue13
Posts
3,998
Likes
9,015
TLIGuy TLIGuy
I posted this over in the Rolex forum but I thought there may be a little interest here as well since many of us have a bit of space geek in us.

My interest and research is confined to a very small sliver of space occupied by the watches worn by astronauts beginning with Gemini 3 and ending with Apollo 17.

During my research I have seen a few images of Jim Lovell wearing his Rolex GMT. None were great and none could be enhanced without serious distortion to get a good look a the GMT.

The image below has been my favorite Lovell pictures with the crew of Apollo 8. They look ready for the task at hand and Lovell's pose with the bomber jacket wearing the shinny new GMT on his wrist has always been my favorite.

lovell_zps4cf267c0.JPG


Now....I Finally get a good look at the GMT that he has worn all these years. Tuesday I received my images from a signing he did where I had a piece signed. Included in the signing was a CD with images from the event. As I looked through the images I spotted the pictures I had been hoping to find over the past few years.

What a great looking well worn GMT 1675. It also appears that the dial has a Naval Academy crest printed on it at the 9 o'clock position.

If this watch could talk I bet it would tell some great stories.

IMG_0025 2.jpg

Where did the signing occur?
 
SpeedyPhill
Posts
6,700
Likes
12,318
April 1970 - April 2020 = 50 years Rolex-in-space as Apollo 13 CMP Jack Swigert, replacing Thomas Mattingly a mere 48 hours before the Apollo 13 launch, wore his personal Rolex GMT-master 1675 Pepsi pilot watch...
MoonwatchUniverse has been looking at some post-recovery photos and found in both the Samoa island and Hawaii island stopovers photo series some gems clearly showing Swigert's beloved Rolex pilot wristwatch...
Much more at: https://moonwatchuniverse.tumblr.com/archive
.
Swigert_Rolex_.jpg
 
SpeedyPhill
Posts
6,700
Likes
12,318
April 1970 - April 2020 = 50 years Rolex-in-spaceflight ... some MoonwatchUniverse article contributions on the subject ... all freely available.
Bearing in mind "space" begins at 100 kilometers... not the USAF edge of space at 80 kilometers eligible for USAF astronaut wings 📖
.
Rolex_Articles.jpg
 
SpeedyPhill
Posts
6,700
Likes
12,318
So far, it looks like 13 Apollo astronauts wore a Rolex during their career, with Edwin Buzz Aldrin wearing a Rolex GMT-master during his very last days at NASA, here checking out the ergonomics of an early space shuttle cockpit layout together with fellow Apollo-era astronauts James Lovell and Thomas Stafford:
.
 
1972_AldrinRolex.jpg
Engee
Posts
1,541
Likes
3,352
OK, I know I'm late to this thread. TBH I had no idea that there was such an interest in what watches astronauts wear - it's like a whole hobby in and of itself. Anyway, here's my question for you experts.

When you're in space, what time should you set your watch for? The same time as ground control, I would have thought. In which case, what is the GMT hand for?
 
SpeedyPhill
Posts
6,700
Likes
12,318
Currently on the ISS, astronauts and cosmonauts use GMT - Greenwich Mean Time as a common time setting, used for timing scientific events, etc... Of course as a second time, astronauts use Houston time and cosmonauts use Moscow time, where their respective ground control centers are located... so they also know when they can phone home... remember, they can phone Earthlings but Earthlings cannot telephone the ISS
 
Engee
Posts
1,541
Likes
3,352
SpeedyPhill SpeedyPhill
Currently on the ISS, astronauts and cosmonauts use GMT - Greenwich Mean Time as a common time setting, used for timing scientific events, etc... Of course as a second time, astronauts use Houston time and cosmonauts use Moscow time, where their respective ground control centers are located... so they also know when they can phone home... remember, they can phone Earthlings but Earthlings cannot telephone the ISS
That makes sense for the ISS, but before international collaboration, did they still use GMT as the recognised time zone for the moon?
 
TLIGuy
Posts
2,098
Likes
11,119
SpeedyPhill SpeedyPhill
So far, it looks like 13 Apollo astronauts wore a Rolex during their career, with Edwin Buzz Aldrin wearing a Rolex GMT-master during his very last days at NASA, here checking out the ergonomics of an early space shuttle cockpit layout together with fellow Apollo-era astronauts James Lovell and Thomas Stafford:
.

Buzz was a trend setter. I love this combination and wear it on my GMT often. It looks pretty clear to me that the watch has a straight lug JB Champion style bracelet with a metal calendar folded over it judging by the lines running across the mesh and parallel to the end piece as well as the slight appearance of printing on the calendar surface.

70D4ACCD-E63C-4627-9AF4-C0675FDD6C8F.jpeg
 
SpeedyPhill
Posts
6,700
Likes
12,318
I agree, that's exactly what we're seeing at Buzz Aldrin's wrist... Buzz was a trend setter 👍
But I'm not sure where & when the photo was taken... probably at North American Rockwell or General Dynamics in 1972...
Astronauts present wearing a Rolex: Lovell, Swigert and Aldrin... the others: Stafford, Fullerton, Hartsfield, Peterson and Karol Bobko.
.
1972_Shuttle.jpg
 
OmeGez
Posts
431
Likes
1,492
I’m curios about that calendar bracelet- do you have anymore info/pictures of it?
 
SpeedyPhill
Posts
6,700
Likes
12,318
SurvivingJoe SurvivingJoe
A lot of GMT!
...
Pilot watch... the sole wristwatch chosen on a strictly personal basis by both Russian cosmonauts & American astronauts 😉
 
SurvivingJoe
Posts
243
Likes
749
SpeedyPhill SpeedyPhill
...
Pilot watch... the sole wristwatch chosen on a strictly personal basis by both Russian cosmonauts & American astronauts 😉
Not the only one, don't forget Speedy!
 
Omegafanman
Posts
4,693
Likes
17,769
Looks like Watchfinder have been reading up on @TLIGuy and @SpeedyPhill / …… https://moonwatchuniverse.tumblr.com/archive or reading the new edition of the Vintage Rolex Field Manual.

5:59-8:23 is longest ever Omega advert with a Rolex GMT background..... 8:25 - 9.01 lists 6 of the Astronauts who wore Rolex on Apollo missions / how Rolex is also an unofficial Moonwatch - I don't think the association will do either brand any harm for different reasons :0)

 
SpeedyPhill
Posts
6,700
Likes
12,318
Working on my " Time Peace " article on how the Omega wristwatch got behind the Iron Curtain into the Russian manned Spaceflight program...
Yes, Time Peace, like in peace & détente between the Cold War World Superpowers... alluding to Time piece 😁
... the very first photo I got in my hands showed Major General cosmonaut Andriyan Nikolayev wearing a Rolex GMT-master pilot watch while sitting in a Soyuz simulator with NASA astronaut Thomas "Tom" Stafford. (Photo: NASA)
.
ASTP-Stafford_Nikolayev.jpg

... again it becomes obvious that the Rolex GMT-master pilot watch remains the sole timepiece strictly chosen on a personal basis by both Russian cosmonauts and International & American astronauts !
 
126 More Posts...
Sign up or log in to reply...

Similar threads

Walrus

Have you ever engraved a watch (I mean the case not just adding a date and name?

Walrus Open Discussion
Walrus
Walrus
Posts
6
Views
821