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The Speedmaster only drew the attention of NASA in 1962. Wally Schirra – but also Gordon Cooper on Mercury 9 – one of the first American astronauts, wore its own Omega Speedmaster CK2998 on a Mercury flight, October 3rd, 1962. This was a private purchase and had nothing to do with NASA. The astronauts kept pushing for something like an official watch that could be worn during space missions. NASA realized that “private” items (like these watches) were used during the missions and also realized that this practice poses many dangers. By 1964, they started thinking that a certified watch for their astronauts was a real and important need.
NASA decided to procure (not buy) several chronographs including, Longines-Wittnauer, Rolex, Hamilton and of course an Omega Speedmaster (note: Waltham and Bulova were not contacted). The legend that NASA bought watches from a Houston dealer is untrue. NASA, a ** agency, is not allowed to “buy” items. The truth, related to us by the Omega Museum, is slightly different. Based on a letter of requirement (1964) by Deke Slayton, the whole watch-testing was organized by James H. Ragan (at the time a young engineer at NASA) and by late 1964 a request for quotations was sent to several watch brands. In case of the Swiss brands, this was sent to the agents/importers of the brands and not to their offices in Switzerland. This is the reason why the brands did not know at first what was going on.
开始的确是意外,但是后来NASA决定对太空表进行“认证”。关于NASA从休斯顿表铺里买表是传说,NASA作为国家机构,不允许私下从表商购买,所有的测试表都是从各大品牌征集来的。 |
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