Exact version of the First Omega In Space... October 1962

Well per the Omega museum we have all the details of Walter Schirra's personal CK2998-4, produced on 15th November 1961, bought by Wally in April 1962 !

(Photo: MoonwatchUniverse / NASA S62-6062)
On this date... October 3
1962, October 3 backup astronaut Gordon "Gordo" Cooper says goodbye after helping to strap in Mercury-Atlas 8 astronaut Walter "Wally" Schirra for the Sigma 7 mission.
US Navy LtCdr Schirra wanted the mission to focus on operational status and not to carry too much "Larry Lightbulb" scientific instruments distracting the astronaut.
Schirra wore his personal Omega Speedmaster CK2998-4 which was produced in November 1961 and which he had bought in April 1962. The chronograph performed flawlessly during the six orbits long mission and Schirra continued using the Speedmaster during Gemini training.
The last time we saw this 1961 CK2998-4t on Schirra's wrist was in March 1966 during a Goodwill tour visiting "Down Under"...
In this NASA photograph, Cooper was wearing his battery-powered tuning fork movement Accutron Astronaut GMT pilot watch which he would wear in May 1963 together with his personal manual winding Omega Speedmaster CK2998-4 in order to compare both wrist watches.

More detailed background about Walter Wally Schirra & Speedmaster in this topic:

On this date... November 15
1961, November 15 saw the production of an Omega Speedmaster CK2998-4 chronograph serial 17.650.054 destined for the US market.
1962, March 20 this CK2998-4 was bought by NASA astronaut Walter "Wally" Schirra, one of the original "Mercury 7" astronauts.
Like Donald "Deke" Slayton, Schirra was a sportscar fan and both astronauts had a personal Omega Speedmaster CK2998 chronograph with Gordon "Gordo" Cooper buying his CK2998-4 in November 1962.
Schirra's CK2998-4 can be seen in April & May 1962 NASA photographs as he was training as a backup for the MA-7 "Aurora 7" mission of fellow Naval aviator "Mercury 7" astronaut Scott Carpenter.
On October 3, 1962 Schirra wore his personal CK2998-4 onboard the MA-8 "Sigma 7" mission during 9 hours 13 minutes and it became known as the FOIS - First Omega In Space.
Post-flight NASA photographs show that Schirra continued to wear his space-flown CK2998-4 regularly to at least April 1966, as summer 1966 he often wore other wrist watches.
Anno 2025, the FOIS CK2998-4 is on display at the Omega museum near the Omega watches headquarters in Bienne / Biel - canton Bern in Switzerland.
(Photos: MoonwatchUniverse)
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March 8, 1966 last time we clearly saw the "Sigma 7" FOIS ?
Mercury 7 astronaut US Navy aviator Walter "Wally" Schirra and his personal 1961 Omega Speedmaster CK2998-4, movement 17.650.054, worn during Sigma 7, used for SCUBA diving, bezelless since 1965, last seen on his wrist in 1966.
Collage of a bespoke artwork for MoonwatchUniverse, LIFE photos of Schirra diving in his pool and Schirra at a handprint ceremony during the Gemini World Tour at the NASA Carnarvon tracking station near Perth - Australia.
Between 22 February and March 1966, Walter Schirra and Frank Borman visited 8 countries during their 24 days long Far East Gemini Goodwill tour, visiting Australia between March 7 - 12.
The Australians had rolled out two plum-colored Rolls-Royce convertibles procured for an earlier visit by Queen Elizabeth II in 1963. At Carnarvon, Schirra rolling up his sleeves clearly showed the bezelless Speedmaster CK2998-4 wrist chronograph.
October 1966 onwards, USN Annapolis as Schirra, Stafford and Lovell were awarded a US Navy logo dial Rolex GMT-master 1675 pilot watch, Schirra preferred to wear the Rolex GMT-master, also his Rolex Daytona 6240 and occasionally his Gold Apollo 11 tribute Speedmaster BA 145.022-69 n° 8.
Since 1994, MoonwatchUniverse has been working on a dozen "astronaut case studies" using official press & NASA photographs in order to find out when well-known NASA astronauts (Aldrin, Armstrong, Borman, Carpenter, Cernan, Collins, Lovell, Mitchell, Shepard, Schirra, Swigert, White) were introduced to the Omega Speedmaster and perhaps more interesting what they wore before those days during NASA training...
(Photos: NASA/LIFE)
#321 #CK2998 #MoonwatchUniverse #NASA #Omegaforums #Speedmaster
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