Home - Oh My Clock

Here are our picks for the top ten most iconic and best space watches. Every one of these watches has made it to space, and some have even made it to the moon. Sturmanskie (Sturmanskie, Poland) Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin wore the first watch to orbit the Earth. Cosmonaut Yuri Gargin completed the world's first space flight in the Vostok 3KA-3 spacecraft on April 12, 1961. (Vostok 1). This monumental achievement marked the beginning of the space age. Nobody had ever been to space. So Gargin's journey into space, and his 108-minute single orbit of the Earth, were truly revolutionary. Because no one knew what effect space flight would have on the human body. Gargin wore a Soviet-made wristwatch. Sturmanskie designed it, and it was manufactured at the First Moscow Watch Factory. Nobody had ever created a space watch. As a result, Sturmanskie created the world's first space watch. However, the first space watch was simply a mechanical pilot watch designed for the Russian Air Force. It had no space upgrades. Probably because no one knew what effect space would have on a watch. The watch is a classic Soviet-era Russian timepiece. The design is very classic, and the dial is simple and uncluttered. Arabic numerals that are large and easy to read, ideal for a pilot watch. Heuer Stopwatch 2 TAG Heuer is the modern incarnation of Heuer. Heuer, on the other hand, was founded in 1860 in Switzerland by Edouard Heuer. Heuer rose to prominence as a world leader in the manufacture of chronographs beginning in the 1930s. A chronograph is a watch that includes a stopwatch. Astronaut John Glenn used one of their stopwatches in space in 1962. As a result of this mission, they became the first Swiss watchmaker to send a watch into space. On this mission, Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. Glenn spent 4 hours and 55 minutes in space, orbiting the Earth three times. NASA did not provide watches to the astronauts on previous NASA missions. Instead, the astronauts were given the option of selecting their own watch for the mission. Breitling Cosmonaute Navitimer This space watch was created specifically for Astronaut Scott Carpenter. Scott Carpenter is said to have been a fan of the Breitling Navitimer watch. He desired a modified version for his space mission. NASA was still not providing space watches at the time. As a result, astronauts needed to obtain their own. Astronaut Scott Carpenter completed a mission similar to that of Astronaut John Glenn. Carpenter participated in the Mercury-Atlas 7 mission, and he completed three orbits of the Earth. He was in space for about 4 hours and 40 minutes. Carpenter's spaceship did not make a smooth landing. Because it landed 250 miles away from the intended landing site. The spacecraft touched down in the Caribbean Sea. The Breitling Cosmonaute was submerged in water as a result of this landing. Unfortunately, this rendered the modified Breitling space watch inoperable. This did not reflect well on the watchmaker. However, we must remember that it was still able to survive in space. Speedmaster Omega (Moonwatch) When it comes to space watches, most people immediately think of Omega. After all, they are the watchmaker responsible for the iconic Moonwatch. This luxury Swiss watchmaker is the owner of the first watch ever worn on the moon's surface. The Apollo 11 crew was most famous for wearing the Omega Moonwatch. Apollo 11 was the first mission to land men on the moon, and it included NASA Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first men to set foot on the moon's surface on July 24, 1969. Poljot Strela This chronograph was designed specifically for the harsh atmosphere of outer space. The Strela space watch is powered by a Soviet-made movement. The first Moscow Watch Factory, was renamed Poljot in 1964. The Caliber 3017 movement was one of the first chronograph movements manufactured in the Soviet Union. And the Strela space watch was the first Soviet space watch to reach orbit. As seen on Cosmonaut Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov's wrist in 1965. Bulova Lunar Chronograph You might be surprised to learn that six manned space missions successfully landed men on the moon. Many people are only familiar with the first one, the famous Apollo 11 mission. The American watchmaker Bulova, on the other hand, is well-known for producing what is known as The Other Moonwatch. A pilot watch that made it to the moon, is also known as the Bulova Lunar chronograph. NASA Astronaut Dave Scott brought his Bulova Lunar chronograph to space, along with his NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster. He was a member of the Apollo 15 mission, which launched to the moon in 1971. Fortunately, he had brought a backup watch because the crystal on his Speedmaster had popped. As a result, he was forced to rely on his personal Bulova. That meant the Bulova Lunar Chronograph arrived on the moon's surface on July 26, 1971. After Scott's Speedmaster broke, he wore it on his wrist. Seiko 6139 is the seventh (Seiko Pogue) Seiko was the first to launch an automatic chronograph into space. When astronaut William Pogue launched his personal Seiko 6139 into space. The Seiko automatic chronograph demonstrated that a self-winding mechanical watch could function in zero-G conditions. On his 1973 space mission, astronaut Colonel William Pogue wore two watches. He brought both his NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster and his personal Seiko 6139. The Seiko Pogue is designed in the style of a 1970s chronograph. It has a real space-age look to it, with the cushion-shaped case. The watch is also very colorful, with a bright yellow sunburst dial and a Pepsi bezel. Unfortunately, Seiko no longer manufactures the Seiko 6139, but these retro-looking space watches can still be found. In addition, the Seiko Pogue 6139 space watch is a surprisingly low-cost vintage timepiece. Sinn 140. Prof. Reinhard Furrer, a German astronaut, brought his own Sinn 140 chronograph into space with him. Furrer was a member of the STS-61 D1 Spacelab Mission, which launched on October 10, 1985. The mission was scheduled to end on November 6. Prof. Reinhard Furrer was a physicist and astronaut. He brought the Sinn 140 chronograph with him because he wanted to demonstrate that an automatic watch could function in space. That the movement could function even in zero-G conditions. No one knew at the time that Astronaut Col. William Pogue had tested this with his Seiko 6139 twelve years before. Fortis Fortis space watches have been built for cosmonauts and used on their space missions since 1992. Today, these Russian space watches serve as cosmonauts' official chronographs. In 1994, the Fortis Cosmonaut chronograph was launched into space as part of the Shuttle-Mir program. It was a joint mission between Russia and the United States that lasted from 1993 to 1998. The Fortis is frequently compared to the well-known Speedmaster. They share a lot of similarities. They are both chronographs with a tachymeter scale on the bezel. However, when the movements of both space watches are compared, they differ. The Fortis space watch is powered by an automatic movement. The Omega Moonwatch, on the other hand, has a hand-wound movement. NASA appears to believe that a hand winding mechanism is more reliable than an automatic mechanism. The Fortis is frequently compared to the well-known Speedmaster. They share a lot of similarities. They are both chronographs with a tachymeter scale on the bezel. However, when the movements of both space watches are compared, they differ. The Fortis space watch is powered by an automatic movement. The Omega Moonwatch, on the other hand, has a hand-wound movement. NASA appears to believe that a hand winding mechanism is more reliable than an automatic mechanism. FIYTA Spacemaster The FIYTA Spacemaster watch was one of the first designed for taikonauts. A Chinese astronaut is known as a Taikonaut. China became the third country to establish its own space agency. China also launched the Shenzhou 5 on October 15, 2003. This was the Chinese space program's first manned mission. The FIYTA Spacemaster, which was worn in 2008, was the most memorable FIYTA space watch. On September 27, 2008, Taikonaut Zhai Zhigang completed a 15-minute spacewalk. The watch can be seen on the outside of his spacesuit. The FIYTA Spacemaster was a massive space watch. It had a 54mm case size and was made of super-tough titanium. It's a colossal space watch. That’s about it for this blog, if you have any further clock/watches-related questions, feel free to use the comment section below. And if you want to read an interesting article on why clocks don’t appear in dreams, we have a great article on just that so do give it a click if you are interested “Why don’t clocks appear in dreams? Clocks and dreams!“. Here is also a link about the history of clocks if you want to give that a look “History of timekeeping devices“

Recent Posts