Hidden gems from the NASA photo archive

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SpeedyPhill

·Jul 9, 2018

Looking at time-period NASA images I spotted this detail on the Speedmaster watch sitting above pilot & test engineer Joe Gagliano's glove preparing for a vacuum chamber test at MSC in Houston, Texas ... nowadays JSC
The chronograph is running...
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MPWATCH

·Jul 9, 2018·Watch Lover

Jones in LA

When I first saw this image I wondered whether the chronograph was running, and if so, what was Armstrong keeping track of?

THIS ^

Thank you very much for sharing this gallery. I'll be diving into google's depths soon enough.

Best,

MP

 

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SpeedyPhill

·Jul 10, 2018

The May to October 1968 NASA photo series are amazing, showing preparations for Apollo 7 and swapping Apollo 9 & 8 so the Americans could orbit the Moon by Christmas of that year... remember the Russians had their own Lunar Program... and the unmanned Luna 15 orbited the Moon while the Apollo 11 spacecraft was in Lunar orbit !
Most interesting are the Apollo 8 training photos, showing the backup crew with Neil Armstrong clearly wearing Omega Speedmaster...
Unfortunately NASA's online archive hasn't been completed yet and several spaceflight aficionados are scanning their personal photo collection in order to bring the complete history by the 50th anniversary of each mission... but the whole project lacks behind in time as it's all volunteer work...
For instance these early NASA weight & balance test photos taken March 1965, the first time an Omega Speedmaster was used in its "official" capacity... are rare images and one can Google what he/she wants but will not come up with a HighRes image 😒
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SpeedyPhill

·Jul 10, 2018

Always great trying to bring out details by scanning these old KODAK paper photos...
Here's a September 1973 image of the Speedmaster 105.003 ( ? ) on a steel mesh JB Champion bracelet worn by astronaut Gerald Carr during training for the final Skylab 4 mission...
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SpeedyPhill

·Jul 10, 2018

for the spaceflight fans: 50 years Snoopy & NASA
http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-071018a-nasa-peanuts-snoopy-space-act.html

 

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SpeedyPhill

·Jul 15, 2018

1968 watch spotting with the Apollo 7 crew, Eisele, Schirra and Cunningham with chief-astronaut Donald "Deke" Slayton
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SpeedyPhill

·Jul 18, 2018

going back to the very first post in this topic... Apollo 11 geology training in El Paso Texas, Neil & Buzz wearing an Omega Speedmaster
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DesignerV

·Jul 18, 2018

SpeedyPhill

Always great trying to bring out details by scanning these old KODAK paper photos...
Here's a September 1973 image of the Speedmaster 105.003 ( ? ) on a steel mesh JB Champion bracelet worn by astronaut Gerald Carr during training for the final Skylab 4 mission...
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This one is really interesting to me. It looks as if the Lume is already a yellow "patina" color, within ten years of the watch having been produced. I haven't really studied this phenomena/timing, but just a thought. Thanks for keeping the updates going in this thread!

 

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henrikaa

·Jul 19, 2018

DesignerV

This one is really interesting to me. It looks as if the Lume is already a yellow "patina" color, within ten years of the watch having been produced. I haven't really studied this phenomena/timing, but just a thought. Thanks for keeping the updates going in this thread!

Maybe it is also due to the hue of the comor in the photos? Even though I see the same you do.

 

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SpeedyPhill

·Jul 20, 2018

By November 1969, about 25 astronauts were presented the gold Apollo tribute Speedmaster chronograph in recognition of their successful spaceflight missions. Posthumous given to the Apollo 1 crew but does anybody know if Apollo 13 crew members Fred Haise and John Swigert finally received one and which numbers these chronographs have ??? 😕
Soon, several astronauts wore these gold Speedmasters during training (e.g. Bean for Skylab 3 tests)
Here's ASTP commander astronaut Tom Stafford wearing his gold Apollo tribute 145.022-69 Speedmaster chronograph during last preparations in July 1975 for the historic "détente" mission
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SpeedyPhill

·Jul 24, 2018

Tom Stafford always made sure that the Omega Speedmaster chronograph was well photographed 😎
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SpeedyPhill

·Jul 31, 2018

Preparing for 2019 ---> https://roadtoapollo50th.com/

 

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SpeedyPhill

·Aug 1, 2018

The August month should be Apollo 15 J-mission month... so time to share yet another NASA image showing Apollo 15 CMP Alfred Worden wearing an Omega Speedmaster chronograph with practical 60-minutes bezel in May 1971.
Most astronauts preferred these bezels and feedback was given to NASA... and Omega ( ? ) 😕
I've found several photos, dated 1971 ~ 1975, showing different astronauts wearing Speedies equipped with these bezels.
There's a topic about this:
https://omegaforums.net/threads/45-years-speedmaster-radial-dial-nasa.64728/
👍
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SpeedyPhill

·Aug 7, 2018

thx for the interest but this cannot longer be a one-man-show... I'll have to forward You to MoonwatchUniverse 😁

 

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SpeedyPhill

·Aug 13, 2018

I like this training shot of the Apollo 11 astronauts as the movement of Buzz Aldrin's right arm blurs out the Speedmaster a bit...
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septentrio

·Aug 13, 2018

What a simply briljant topic, thanks for sharing all!!

 

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SpeedyPhill

·Aug 21, 2018

50 years ago it was clear that the Apollo 7 mission was going to be the rebirth of NASA's manned lunar spaceflight program.
During the summer, both prime & backup crews completed altitude chamber tests and September 1968 was going to be a month of full crew Space Vehicle Emergency Egress Tests and procedures at Launch Complex 34 at the Cape.
Apollo 7 was the last manned flight to be launched from the Cape Air Force station in the 20th century.
Meanwhile the Apollo 11 crew (with Haise instead of Collins) started training as backup for the Apollo 8 circumlunar mission...
Exciting times... during the next few weeks I'll showcase some rarely seen NASA photos showing the Speedmaster in use...
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rob#1

·Aug 30, 2018

One of the advantages of having access to an old library is that they still have books from way back (well, at least the 70s and 80s). I had a look today and a couple of books threw up the following photos (apologies if this isn’t the correct thread, but I’m guessing these came from NASA originally):

Ed White, out in space, I guess sporting an Ed White?!?

Michael Collins wearing his Speedy at breakfast with the rest of the crew:

A couple of shuttle astronauts, too blurry to make out the watches:

Apologies for the picture quality, these are iPhone photos of 30-40 year old books, take in a rush. I’ll have a look through the other books when I get a chance and see what I can turn up...📖

 

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SpeedyPhill

·Aug 30, 2018

@rob#1
You mean Ed White wearing a pair of Speedmasters !!!
Those shuttle astronauts on STS-8 Challenger (August 1983) ) were wearing radial dial speedmaster chronographs...

 

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DesignerV

·Aug 30, 2018

Speaking of Michael Collins' Speedmaster, I have been a frequent visitor to Destination Moon while it has been in St. Louis.

Apologies for the rough picture, the dim exhibit lighting is rather frustrating.