April 8, 2022 As we checked out the watches on the wrists of the 4 "private" astronauts, we noted a white dial chronograph... At first we thought to see a little Snoopy silhouette in the 9 o'clock subdial but it should have been more obvious to be a Zenith chronograph as after all the Omega Silver Snoopy Speedmaster chronograph is a much rarer watch... Lefthand seat was occupied by Eytan Stibbe (Israel). After looking more closely, SWFG members (niccoloy) confirmed it has to be a Silver Snoopy Speedmaster ! . Edit: capsule seating positions corrected in the overview hereunder
Once the astronauts enter the capsule, they still have their hands free in the open sleeve with attached gloves... once seated each astronaut is given a square mirror on a white strap and the wrist watch of their choice: Mark Pathy (Canada) = manual Omega Speedmaster Larry Conner = tablet but no wrist watch ? Michael Lopez-Alegria = Omega X-33 Speedmaster Eytan Stibbe (Israel) = Omega Silver Snoopy Speedmaster. Again some awesome wristwatch-wise history in space ! Edit: corrected capsule seating positions For those who want to check out the video at the moment of wrist watch time:
A relaxed Axiom-1 crew onboard the capsule on their way to the ISS, from left-to-right: Eytan Stibbe (Israel), Michael Lopez-Alegria (former NASA), Mark Pathy (Canada) and Larry Conner. some wrist watches remained with the SpaceX suits... .
09 April 14:33 ... docking completed... ISS hatch to be opened first, followed by SpaceX Crew Dragon hatch Meanwhile the Axiom-1 crew used bag-203 water for a WSF ( Waste System Flush ... WC toilet flush ) Axiom-1 crew will get out of their white SpaceX suits and wear soft flight suits in the short sleeve environment of the ISS... 09 April 15:50 ... Node 2 hatch pressure equalisation and the ISS Expedition 67 ready for the welcome ceremony onboard ISS ISS Safety briefing conducted, WSF performed and Eytan Stibbe wearing the Omega Silver Snoopy Speedmaster chronograph was first to float into the ISS, followed by the rest of Axiom-1 .
A total of 11 people onboard the ISS ... Eytan Stibbe in the centre with the clear white Silver Snoopy Award 50th Speedmaster in the center (screenshot: NASA) .
IMHO, this brings the Top 5 of remarkable Omega Speedmaster chronograph flown-in-space versions at: Nov 1981 - Omega Speedmaster "radial dial" Alaska Project III chronograph (STS-2 Columbia worn by Joe Engle and Richard Truly) July 1997 - Omega Speedmaster automatic triple date chronograph (STS-94 Columbia worn by Michael Gernhardt) July 2005 - Omega Earth-Moon-Mars Speedmaster chronograph (STS-114 Discovery worn by Soichi Noguchi) April 2010 - Omega Moonphase Speedmaster chronograph (STS-131 Discovery worn by Naoko Yamazaki) April 2022 - Omega Silver Snoopy Award 50th Speedmaster chronograph (Axiom-1 SpaceX crew dragon worn by private astronaut Eytan Stibbe) Photos at MoonwatchUniverse
Great spot….. so just a lucky selection of watches to review at the Old Bond Street boutique last month then ;0) .