Speedmasters still for EVA’s….Fact or Fiction?

As much as I enjoy the rich history of the Speedmaster the thing I enjoy most is researching the stories written about the watch and separating fact from fiction. Separating the two is tough sometimes because in the words of X-Files Special Agent Fox Muder “I want to believe.”

I do want to believe that many of the stories we are all familiar with are true but as I continue to dig deeper the truth is that many of them are not. Much of the incorrect history keeps getting repeated and the longer it’s repeated the more deep seeded it becomes and it eventually becomes what we think of as fact.

So how about using some pictures to separate fact from fiction and try to answer this question.

Do American NASA astronauts still use the Speedmaster during their EVA’s?

To answer this question I began searching the NASA image archives to see if I could find just one image of a US Astronaut wearing a Speemaster during their EVA but sadly I came up empty handed.

I know some will say that I don’t see any watches because they are hidden under a flap on the glove. With 99.9% certainty I can say that is not true. While there was at one time a prototype EVA glove with the watch integrated under a flap that feature is not found on the current EVA glove used by NASA today. As noted in the picture below the flap glove goes back to the Apollo-era flights.


But how could all this be? How could I not find any pictures? Omega tells me that the US astronauts use the Speedmaster for EVA’s and they even show me this fantastic Omega ad showing a US astronaut wearing the Speedmaster during his EVA. Why couldn’t I find this picture after all my searching?



Then I thought to myself, you're pretty smart TLIGuy how can you find the picture Omega used? Hmmmmm…..I thought, maybe I can identify the mission patch on the astronauts chest and then search the NASA images of that specific mission and I’ll find it. So off I went.

If you look closely at the patch on the chest of the astronaut in the ad you can identify it as the mission patch from STS-69 as seen below.




Excellent!!! All I need to do now is track down the STS-69 images and prove once and for all US astronauts do still wear the Speedmaster during their EVA’s.

So wait for it………

















And here it is, the original picture used in the ad. Do you notice something missing that is prominently displayed on the wrist of the astronaut in the ad?

Astronaut Michael L. Gernhardt, STS-69 mission specialist, pictured below during the September 16, 1995, EVA not wearing a Speedmaster.


CREDIT - NASA STS069-714-046 (16 September 1995)

Not only did he not wear the Speedmaster during his EVA he didn’t wear one at all.


CREDIT - NASA STS069-377-021 (7-18 September 1995)

Two things I concluded from the investigation into my original question.

1) Unable to find one image to confirm its use I do not believe the Speedmaster is currently used by US astronauts during their EVA's.

2) Omega is the master of marketing and by all appearances Photoshop as well👍



Thanks a lot Mulder….I so wanted to believe.

Wow...kinda disappointing indeed. Great research though!

On an exceedingly vaguely related note, I was outbid last year in an auction for Fox Mulder's wristwatch 😉

I have to disagree on one point. That is not mastery of photoshop. It looks fairly dodgy photoshop to me.

Fascinating research.

I would have thought that could lead to Omega being in hot legal waters? awfully lot like misleading and deceptive conduct by Omega.

The Russians still seem to use Speedies
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/a...sional-actually-being-used-for-eva-today-well

They do indeed and it's great to see it still being used by the Russians.

Maybe NASA photoshopped the Speedy off the photo... if you want to believe, you still can 🤨

Thanks @TLIGuy, this is great reading. Perhaps you have come across this in your research : what about the X series of Speedies? They were supposedly designed for space/nasa upon request...but I am assuming they never left the capsule? Big assumption here : LCD doesnt work so good in the cold...

Well played.

Nice discovery, I feel like I have read somewhere that some astronauts nowadays were wearing electrical Speedmasters, I will try to find the article

During the last few decades, Omega marketing and the history of spaceflight didn't go well together... It's a sad story but it's about time Omega brings out a decent publication with all the details on NASA's use of the Omega Speedmaster chronograph (e.g. numbers of watches delivered, care of flown timepieces, etc...).
Luckily it looks like they are working on this right now !
👍

One clarification upon looking at the EMU glove page again. The page is referring to the watch and not the glove. That is an oversight on my part.

Upon reviewing the page under the operational comments it's clear "This item has been used very sparingly on actual flights and was acquired during the Apollo-era flights." is referring to the watch and not the glove itself.

I have sent a note to my contact at ILC Dover (suit manufacture) to see if they can verify the date of production of the glove and provide a picture of it being used if they have one. Still, to the best of my knowledge I can find no picture of this style glove in use.

Very disappointed 😡 😉

Interesting...Im in the market for a new trash can...how much for that trash can (with all that trash) as is? 😀

I feel your pain and was saddened as well.😉

Great research @TLIGuy ! 👍

I have to admit I'm not a NASA/Space nerd, so forgive my dumb question: Your research sought to answer this question:

You say "still", which implies they used Speedmasters up until some point, and they no longer do. Have you been able to pinpoint the cutoff of when they stopped?

I have not been able to determine when US astronauts stopped wearing the Speedmaster during EVA's. It's absolutly possible that they continued to wear them into the early shuttle years but I can't find any evidence of it.

This would be an interesting project, maybe with a few members, just clicking through tons of photos of space missions to determine where NASA stopped to equip them

That's exactly what I did. Looking at every EVA photo posted in the NASA photo gallery beginning with STS-6 in April 1983 to the most recent Expedition 50 EVA last week.

The last image of a US astronaut I can spot wearing a Speedmaster during an EVA is by Ed Gibson on Skylab 3 on Feb 3, 1974.

Interesting, thanks!