I just got to wondering how it was that the Omega Speedmaster could have survived on the surface of the moon. Or any watch, for that matter! The source I checked indicated that temperatures on the surface of the moon vary from +253° F on the sunny side, to -243° F on the dark side! That's a 500° F variation every 13 hours! I look at my Speedmaster and my Speedmaster Professional (both 1989 versions), and wonder how it might have been possible for such a watch to survive under those conditions! Anyone know?

And what on earth (or rather, what on moon ) would you do if you were on the dark side, and your visor fogged!

 

If you were walking on the sunny side and stepped into the shadow of the LEM, the temperature of your Speedmaster would be approaching -200 degF after some period of time due to thermal radiation. How long this takes depends on the radiative properties of the materials used to make the watch.

 

What about the hesalite crystal? (Which reminds me, I'd better go and remove my Speedmaster Professional from the 250° F oven!)

I think you are saying that the temp of the watch in the shadow of the LEM on the +253° F bright side of the moon could soon drop to -200° F if in the shade of the LEM for long enough? I suppose this might have to do with the moon having no atmosphere? It's hard to get my head around that! How could the heat dissipate by convection when there is no atmosphere? (Does this sound like a question a space cadet might ask?)

 

A Speedmaster exposed to full sunlight on the surface of the Moon will reach a very high temperature due to its exposure to a broad range (spectrum) of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the Sun (including visible light). Stepping into the shade of the LEM will block virtually all that incoming radiation, and the watch itself will radiate stored thermal energy, electromagnetically (think infrared radiation), away from the watch. No conductive/convective medium (like an atmosphere) is necessary for the watch to get cold in the shade. I think it's remarkable that of the 11 Speedmasters that were worn on moonwalks (exposing the watches to alternating sunlight and shade) only two failures were experienced -- in both cases the hesalite crystal separated from the watch case, and in both cases the difference in the thermal expansion properties of acrylic vs. steel was the suspected culprit in the failures.

 

Aha! So the environment on the moon was a very severe test on these Speedmasters! Just as I suspected might have been the case! It's a wonder to me that there were only two failures, given the conditions! Thanks.

 

And worth noting that the crystals popping off is what led Omega to the various Alaska project watches.. Pretty cool.

 

And then it led to this?

Honestly, if I was an astronaut getting ready to take the shuttle, and they pulled these out for me to use.... I'd be like hell no, I want the Gemini4 Speedmaster.

 

How did the astronauts survive?

 

Butter?

 

These were not intended for extra-vehicular activity, as I understand. The reason being the LCDs either froze or boiled.

I could be wrong

 

Yes, the LCD becomes unusable at high or low temperature.

 

I had NO IDEA that model of Speedmaster was around during even the most RECENT landing on the moon! Or have you taken one of these "taxi" space vehicles with the re-useable rockets that are currently all the news?

 

http://scienceandtechnology.jpl.nasa.gov/research/ResearchTopics/topicdetails/?ID=57
Enjoy.

 

A quick Google search found the Qualification test the competing watches were subjected to:

• High temperature: 48 hours at 160 °F (71 °C) followed by 30 minutes at 200 °F (93 °C)
• Low temperature: Four hours at 0 °F (−18 °C)
• Temperature cycling in near-vacuum: Fifteen cycles of heating to 160 °F (71 °C) for 45 minutes, followed by cooling to 0 °F (−18 °C) for 45 minutes at 10−6 atm
• Humidity: 250 hours at temperatures between 68 °F (20 °C) and 160 °F (71 °C) at relative humidity of 95%
• Oxygen environment: 100% oxygen at 0.35 atm and 71 °C for 48 hours
• Shock: Six 11ms 40 g shocks from different directions
• Linear acceleration: from 1 to 7.25 g within 333 seconds
• Low pressure: 90 minutes at 10−6 atm at 160 °F (71 °C) followed by 30 minutes at 200 °F (93 °C)
• High pressure: 1.6 atm for one hour
• Vibration: three cycles of 30 minutes vibration varying from 5 to 2000 Hz with minimum 8.8 g impulse
• Acoustic noise: 30 minutes at 130 dB from 40 to 10,000 Hz[6][14]

All chronographs tested were mechanical hand-wound models. Neither the first automatic chronograph nor the first quartz watch would be available until 1969, well after the space program was underway. The evaluation concluded in March 1965 with the selection of the Speedmaster, which survived the tests while remaining largely within 5 seconds per day rate.

 

AHA ! PHOTOSHOP! I might have known! Let's hope nobody else reads this or the proverbial cat is out of the bag!

 

Or, of course, it never happened...ooooohhh but don't get in Buzz's face about it or this will happen to you. Message, don't mess around with an 85 year old ex fighter pilots and Astronaut.