May 1980, Soyuz 36 cosmonauts Valeri Kubasov & Bertalan Farkas wore, besides the black dial Poljot 3133, an extra chronograph...
Maybe some Omega type ?
. Photos: TASS/Roscosmos

 

The above watches were identified as Heuer Montreal 7750 ( Farkas still wearing the watch in 2015 )

 

April 12 ... Cosmonaut Day worldwide !
April 12, 1961 cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on the launchpad where the R-7 3KA launch vehicle awaits. The flight preparations were documented in detail and we clearly see the 17 jewels Shturmanskie "Navigator" wristwatch on his inner left forearm of his bright oranje SK-1 spacesuit.
(Photo: TASS/Roscosmos)
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I have posted them once before - but here are some photos of Talgat Musabayev's Speedy which I took at the old museum in 2016.

 

Our article " How the Omega watches got behind the Iron Curtain and into the Soviet-Russian space program " is going to print today !
1976 - Soyuz 21 commander Boris Volynov wearing an Omega Flightmaster during medical training. It's not clear the Omega was worn during the mission, but his colleague Vitali Zholobov wore an Omega Flightmaster on that mission 6 July - 24 August 1976... (photo: TASS)
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30 years ago... First Austrian cosmonauts selected !
In 1990 seven Austrians were candidate-cosmonaut for the AustroMir spaceflight mission; Friedrich, Griedl, Haas,Jeitle, Waich, Clemens Lothaller and Franz Viehbock. The latter two were selected to start training at Star City near Moscow.
On October 2, 1991 Franz Viehbock was launched onboard Soyuz TM-13 and not only became the first Austrian in space but also the first cosmonaut to become father at launchday as his wife Vesna gave birth to a girl named Carina Marie !
Note the Mil version Shturmanskie 31659 chronograph at the wrist of Russian cosmonaut Alexander Volkov in this AutroMir training photo at Starcity - Moscow. (Photo: TASS)
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currently working on some text why these vintage Russian chronographs never made it into modern day "watch journalism"

 

Probably because, like the Yema Spationaute III, they were buried under Omega's saturation marketing ....
This being a prime example:



Jean-Loup Chretien's designated Mir Aragatz mission watch was the Yema Spationaute III, barely visible on his right wrist.

 

Or if the truth be told - more likely, to prevent the crystal popping off in the vacuum of space. LOL !

 

Soviet Speedmaster video on YouTube

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Some obvious mistakes, Soyuz 14 photo shown while talking about Soyuz 15, and it were Alaska II project Speedmasters on Soyuz 25 & 26
Moreover, Vladimir Dzhanibekov wore the Speedmaster 125 chronograph on Soyuz T-6, T-12 and T-13 accumulating 131 days-in-space for this watch before returning it to the Omega museum in April 1991

 

I did not know about the soviet's Omega, even less about the Mark III and flightmaster being flown in the 70's.

I remember an article about the Pogue saying than before the Pogue (re)discovery in the middle of the 00's, it was thouth the first automatic watch in space was the Sinn 140 during the Spacelab D1 mission.
Was it a mistake from the author? or it took even longer than 20 years to discover than the Mark III flown way before the Sinn?

 

Two NASA astronauts of the 1973 Skylab-4 crew wore an Automatic wristwatch:
Commander Gerald Carr wore a Movado Datron automatic chronograph
Astronaut William Pogue wore a Seiko 6139 automatic chronograph...
Late 1980s & early 1990s Aviation & spaceflight magazines had articles on astronauts' watches, long before " watch journalism " became a thing

 

But nont only wrist watches

April 10, 1979: Nikolaevič Rukavišnikov and Georgi Ivanov onboard of Sojuz 33 (Сатурн/Saturn)

 

40 years ago... September 1980 the Interkosmos Soyuz 38 Cuba
Between September 18 to 26, 1980, Soyuz 38 the 7th Interkosmos spaceflight flew the first hispanophone cosmonaut, Arnaldo Tamyo Mendez from Cuba to the Salyut-6 space station. Mendez wore a Seiko Bell Matic DayDate wristwatch, while his Soviet-Russian commander Yuri Romanenko, wore his Omega Speedmaster 861 chronograph which he received as a support-cosmonaut during ASTP-training in 1973-1974.
This official TASS press photo shows the crew after landing & recovery, with Romanenko wearing the Speedmaster on his lefthand wrist.
More on how the Omega Speedmaster became part of the Russian space program in our " Time Peace " article
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As mentioned before, after the September 1971 IAF - International Aeronautical Federation conference in Lucerne, Switzerland, during which Apollo 13 and Soyuz 9 spacefarers were awarded several Space Medals, Omega carefully approached the Soviet-Russian spaceflight program.
By late 1973, cosmonauts were invited to Bienne/Biel and we see the first Omega wristwatches on Soyuz flights in 1974 (e.g. Omega Flightmaster on Soyuz 14 and an Omega Speedmaster Mk III on soyuz 15).
Moreover, all cosmonauts involved in the practical Apollo-Soyuz training schedule received an Omega Speedmaster 861 chronograph ...
Leonov, Kubasov, Filipchenko, Rukavishnikov, Andreyev, Dzhanibekov, Ivanchenkov, Romanenko, Shatalov and Yeliseyev.
I'm a bit amazed to see that in December 1974, during Soyuz 16, after all an important practice & rehearsal flight for ASTP to test the new solar panels & the androgynous docking system... cosmonauts Filipchenko & Rukavishnikov didn't wear their Omega 861 Speedmaster...
Maybe a privilege strictly reserved to the actual historic Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission in July 1975...

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Some follow-on Omega Speedmaster behind the Iron curtain information...
Although in the 1980s, several cosmonauts, especially those who were involved in ASTP training, used an Omega Speedmaster during training, we only saw the anniversary Speedmaster 125 on the wrist of Vladimir Dzhanibekov in 1982 (T-6), 1984 (T-12) and 1985 (T-13), which he later returned to Omega in April 1991... nowadays on display in the Omega museum.
The 1987 TM-2 crew of Yuri Romanenko & Aleksandr Laveykin and later Aleksandr Serebrov (1989 TM-8) wore an Omega Speedmaster on their mission. To be complete we have to add French spationaute Jean-Loup Chrétien on 1988 TM-7 who took several Omega Speedmasters up to the Mir space station...( well-known micro-gravity Speedmaster juggling photo ). I wonder where these chronographs ended up, gifted to officials?
It would take until 1991 when each cosmonaut of a Soyuz crew wore an Omega Speedmaster (TM-12, TM-13)... with a pause in 1994, before reappearing in 1995 (TM-21, TM-22) this time to stay until the Speedmaster X-33 made its introduction onboard Soyuz flights!
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Some fascinating history I was unaware of and great photos. Thanks for this.

 

This morning, a member of the SWFG - Space Watches Facebook Group, who visited the aviation museum in Ostrogozhsk, Russia... shared photos of the cosmonaut Anatoli Filipchenko display stand which exhibits the cosmonaut's Omega Flightmaster and photos of the December 1974 Soyuz-16 mission, an ASTP rehearsal flight about which we were asking the appropriate question... Why didn't the cosmonauts wear their Omega Speedmaster 861 chronographs on Soyuz-16 ?
Well it turned out they did ! AFAIK ... FOIS - First Omega Speedmaster In Space for the Russians !
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Just another 1973 photo... showing the Soyuz-12 crew, white Sokol suit clad cosmonauts Makarov & Lazarev, talking to Vostok-4 veteran Pavel Popovich in brown military uniform... The latter clearly wearing an Omega Speedmaster chronograph.

 

Many thanks for this - surprised it is not getting more interest. Considering how critical WW2 and the cold war was to drive us to the moon I think discovering the Russian FOIS is a huge find. The Russian contribution to Space exploration (especially low earth orbit missions) has been vital and a cornerstone of ISS so I am fascinated by this story. I look forward to hearing more / how they came to use OMEGA like their NASA counterparts? (also considering the probable political pressure to use home grown or at least home copied technology in both countries). Well done for some really ground breaking research..... shame they did not also go with the NASA hairstyles :0)