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SpeedyPhill
·60 years ago... 1966, August 4
During a press conference at NAA - North American Aviation at Downey California, we saw the entire Apollo 1 crew wearing NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster chronographs for the very first time.
The crew, LtCol Virgil Grissom, LtCol Edward White & Lt Roger Chaffee, had been announced 1966, March 1 with only Grissom & White wearing a NASA-issued Speedmaster 105.003 wrist chronograph as they had been using it for almost one year at that time. Roger Chaffee was still wearing his personal cream-dial Times Electric wrist watch.
During the Apollo program, 1968 onwards, NASA would aim to distribute an Omega Speedmaster to an astronaut the day of the crew announcement.
But as I will point out further in this topic, this wasn't always the case.
In this case, Apollo 1 it took 5 months before the complete crew had a NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster chronograph, but here's the quirk:
Wouldn't You want the very best for the new program and distribute the Speedmaster 105.012-65 of which NASA had received the first batch by the end of 1965, or did NASA keep these 105.012 aside for the actual spaceflight mission? In fact the latter would have been the case and was a modus operandi during the rest of NASA's manned space program up to STS.
Thusfar NASA photos point out that 1966, August 18 was the first time the Apollo 1 crew trained in WSS wearing the Speedmaster...
NASA soon realised, with 55 astronauts recruited of which 30 on "active" flight status, they didn’t have enough wrist chronographs and quickly ordered more. It would last until December 1968 before NASA considered to have enough Omega Speedmaster chronographs to be issued to prime & backup crews of the busy Apollo program!
(Photos: NASA)
.
During a press conference at NAA - North American Aviation at Downey California, we saw the entire Apollo 1 crew wearing NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster chronographs for the very first time.
The crew, LtCol Virgil Grissom, LtCol Edward White & Lt Roger Chaffee, had been announced 1966, March 1 with only Grissom & White wearing a NASA-issued Speedmaster 105.003 wrist chronograph as they had been using it for almost one year at that time. Roger Chaffee was still wearing his personal cream-dial Times Electric wrist watch.
During the Apollo program, 1968 onwards, NASA would aim to distribute an Omega Speedmaster to an astronaut the day of the crew announcement.
But as I will point out further in this topic, this wasn't always the case.
In this case, Apollo 1 it took 5 months before the complete crew had a NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster chronograph, but here's the quirk:
Wouldn't You want the very best for the new program and distribute the Speedmaster 105.012-65 of which NASA had received the first batch by the end of 1965, or did NASA keep these 105.012 aside for the actual spaceflight mission? In fact the latter would have been the case and was a modus operandi during the rest of NASA's manned space program up to STS.
Thusfar NASA photos point out that 1966, August 18 was the first time the Apollo 1 crew trained in WSS wearing the Speedmaster...
NASA soon realised, with 55 astronauts recruited of which 30 on "active" flight status, they didn’t have enough wrist chronographs and quickly ordered more. It would last until December 1968 before NASA considered to have enough Omega Speedmaster chronographs to be issued to prime & backup crews of the busy Apollo program!
(Photos: NASA)
.
