It said in the article she returned the watch via dropping it off in his car seat. Where it had been from the moment taken to return, I shudder to think. Can Rolex withstand an autoclave sterilization?
If they make them tougher than the 1960s daytonas, it might... (per NASA lore, the high temp test knocked out the Daytona whose hands melted, and our Speedie was at that time the last watch standing and thus became the moonwatch)
There were a bunch of watches initially, cut down to 3 after preliminary testing: An Omega 321 Speedmaster, a Rolex Valjoux 72 (pre-Daytona), and a Longines 13 ZN (which surprises me that it wasn't a 30CH).
The Daytona hands didn't "melt"; the sweep seconds hand warped during the pressure test and caught on another hand stopping the watch. The watch also stopped running during the humidity test (maybe because of the same issue). The crystal kept popping off the Longines.
The Speedmaster had a fault or two also, but it was the only watch that kept working. For example, it gained 21 minutes during the decompression test and lost 15 minutes during the acceleration test, and there was a problem with lume failure also. On Apollo 15, the crystal of David Scott's watch came off during an EVA so he used his personal watch for the next EVA.
Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
EDIT: actually, I remember reading various posts by Rolex guys who were tired of Speedmaster fanboys claiming that the Speedy was the only perfect watch according to NASA. It was just less flawed than the others tested.
BTW, did you guys know that Scott Carpenter wore a Breitling on his orbital missions? Also, many of the astronauts used their personal watches under their suits, most of which were Rolex GMTs.
Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
...and Word, for Word... 馃槻
I think you know your 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' as well as you know Longines, Speedys, and... well, god-only-knows what else! 馃榿...
