Credit : http://www.fratellowatches.com/first-speedmaster-in-space/ Sigma 7 Yesterday, it was exactly 54 years ago that astronaut Walter ‘Wally’ Schirra orbited Earth 6 times in the Sigma 7 spacecraft. The name of the NASA mission was Mercury-Atlas 8, and Schirra picked ‘Sigma 7’ as the name for the spacecraft. Using the mathematical symbol for summation as appropriate for an “engineering evaluation”, and the “7” to refer to the seven Mercury astronauts (source). On his wrist, an Omega, the first Speedmaster in Space. Schirra is the only astronaut to have flown Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. First Speedmaster in Space Not only did Wally Schirra use a Hasselblad camera for the first time in space, it was also the first time that an Omega watch was used in space. The Speedmaster CK2998 that Schirra (and Gordon Cooper and Deke Slayton as well by the way) bought privately, for use during flights. Below, from the NASA archives, Wally Schirra playing around with the Hasselblad camera, wearing his Speedmaster CK2998 and Bulova Accutron. Sigma 7 Yesterday, it was exactly 54 years ago that astronaut Walter ‘Wally’ Schirra orbited Earth 6 times in the Sigma 7 spacecraft. The name of the NASA mission was Mercury-Atlas 8, and Schirra picked ‘Sigma 7’ as the name for the spacecraft. Using the mathematical symbol for summation as appropriate for an “engineering evaluation”, and the “7” to refer to the seven Mercury astronauts (source). On his wrist, an Omega, the first Speedmaster in Space. Schirra is the only astronaut to have flown Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. First Speedmaster in Space Not only did Wally Schirra use a Hasselblad camera for the first time in space, it was also the first time that an Omega watch was used in space. The Speedmaster CK2998 that Schirra (and Gordon Cooper and Deke Slayton as well by the way) bought privately, for use during flights. Below, from the NASA archives, Wally Schirra playing around with the Hasselblad camera, wearing his Speedmaster CK2998 and Bulova Accutron.
I always wondered why Walter Wally Schirra Jr chosed the Speedmaster CK2998 ( -4 ? -6 ? ) instead of the another brand until i read somewhere his Dad was Swiss born ! Perhaps Walter Senior already had a vintage Omega & that had a profound influence on Walter Jr .Perhaps Wally needed the final approval & blessings of Walter Sr before deciding on the CK2998 Does anyone here know the watch brand Alan Shepard was wearing in May 1961 on board Freedom 7 ? So why didnt Wally choose the same watch since he admired Al' so much ? Heck ! Who knows ? Maybe someone did try to shove a Rolex Explorer inside Wally's pants for crying out loud..... Maybe Wally said to himself " Oh WTF , lets have everything in Greek on board - Sigma , Omega... " I love to add a little fairy tale romance to an already Incredible Journey [emoji5] of the Speedmaster....
Indeed Alan B. Shepard didn't wear a watch on Freedom 7 in May 1961 but owned a Bulova "Astronaut" On board Aurora 7 capsule,Scott Carpenter wore a modified Breitling Navitimer,to feature a twenty-four hour dial and omitting the tachymeter scale. Breitling reissued a watch with this design after his May 24, 1962, flight, calling it the Cosmonaute. Both Wally Schirra and Gordon Cooper wore a Speedmaster chronograph on their missions, respectively Sigma 7 (October 1962) and Faith 7 (May 1963)... the rest is history See: http://moonwatchuniverse.tumblr.com/archive