Still awaiting the official updated listing by NASM & Omega

 

The serial 29.115.xxx is correct, not a typo.
NASM sent me the card of the watch with this serial and some pics of the Schirra's 105.003-64
Evidently they must have changed the movement during a review/service , perhaps water entered during the splash down of Gemini 6.

Here pics






credit by NASM


Ciao, Gino

 

So they put in an 861 and a new dial? Interesting.

 

Agree on 20.5mil serials, but...

i.e. S/N 76 Stafford ASTP




credit by NASM

Ciao, Gino

 

So those later 70s mission watches are Frankens then, with 1963 movements and 1968 cases? I would love a closer look at that movement to check the number. Unless Omega sent NASA a box of 1963 movements along with the original straight lug watches which were then used for running repairs by NASA themselves, I can't see how that makes sense. I guess these were tool watches in the most literal sense and parts were swapped and changed as necessary without much regard to originality.

 

....but all the 5 watches sequential in the chart (or more, we don't know) and all belonging to the ASTP and Skylab SL2-4 missions ?

Ciao, Gino

 

[QUOTE="padders, post: 1673935, member: 23103" I can't see how that makes sense.[/QUOTE]

Agree

Ciao, Gino

 

“Flight Qualified by NASA in 1965 for all manned space missions”
Engraved on the caseback of the new 2021 Omega Speedmaster announced January 5th... but how did that really work out?
I would like to know how many Omega Speedmaster 105.003-63 NASA received and how many were used "to destruction" in 1965 NASA tests.
I guess both Omega Speedmaster 105.003 worn by Gus Grissom and John Young during Gemini III ( March 23, 1965... a month before Omega delivered the first batch of 17 Speedmasters to NASA on April 23, 1965 ) were survivor Speedmasters part of the November 1964 test batch ?
Here's John Young on March 3, 1965 during a Gemini weight & balance test... note Speedmaster 105.003-63 on elastic bracelet (photo: NASA)

.

 

I'd be interested to hear your review of the video put out by Omega yesterday, and the various assertions regarding order numbers, etc., briefly mentioned in the film.

 

Interesting remark, my notes had following figures:
Between November 1964 and November 1968, Omega delivered 97 Speedmasters to NASA ( 20 each 105.003 and 77 each 105.012 )
Former NASA-engineer James Ragan mentioned 98 Speedmasters, so it's interesting to find out exactly how much Omega Speedmasters NASA received in November 1964 to be tested ( 3 or 4 ) ? And was only one tested so the rest could be worn during Gemini III

“Flight Qualified by NASA in 1965 for all manned space missions”
Indeed important enough to be engraved on the caseback of the new 2021 Omega Speedmaster...
So I would like to see Omega bringing us the whole detailed story how this worked out towards distribution among the 55 Apollo-era NASA astronauts... or at least among the 20 Gemini-era astronauts !

 

Forgive me, in that I’m not so agile with the details of the NASA/OMEGA history to fully read through your subtlety here.

Am I correct to infer that you are politely questioning whether Flight Qualification in fact took place in 1965, or is that instead a concretely agreed fact?

 

Nope, just curious how many watches were delivered in November 1964 and of those 105.003-63 delivered, how many were tested ?

 

The usual philosophy used during environmental qualification testing nowadays is to carry out all (or certainly most of) the tests on 1 item. The logic being that is the only way to demonstrate the cumulative effects of the different environments on the test piece. I'm not sure if that's how NASA approached it though.

 

Has anyone ever had sight of the original qual test plan or report (s)?

 

It's important to know NASA had selected 20 astronauts for the Gemini program... from their 1959 '"Original Mercury 7'", 1962 '"Next Nine"' and 1963 '"Fourteen"' astronaut groups.
Going through time-period photos we can find out to whom NASA-issued Speedmasters were distributed (e.g. in this 1965 NASA photo we see Neil Armstrong and Elliot See training as backup for Gemini V ... Did Neil wear a Speedmaster on leather strap or didn't he receive one yet ...)
.

I will talk about the subject at several venues in 2021... but we're looking forward to an Omega GTG where this subject will be " lectured " to an interested Spaceflight & Speedmaster audience !

 

@ginobi
Interesting question on the subject... but we have to know how the Speedmasters were distributed between the 20 Gemini astronauts, both backup and prime crews.
For those, like myself, trying to make a full list of the whereabouts of the 1960s NASA Speedmasters, we have to take into account that some astronauts recieved more than one Speedmaster, could keep these for a long time and unfortunately also take a look at the post-1965 T-38 jet accidents in which astronauts died !
(February 28, 1966 = Bassett & See ... October 5, 1967 = Clifton Williams)

 

Ciao Gino,

I missed the latest posts of this thread. I guess this 145.012 is simply 26.552.325, produced 18.10.1968 and delivered to USA. Same for other known 145.012s NASA in the same batch of 10 units (26.552.32x).
To my knowledge, 20.552.xxx does not correspond to a batch a calibers 321.