Tom Hanks, the Omega Speedmaster, and Apollo 13

Tom Hanks and his Omega Speedmaster…. Houston, we have a problem

In 1995, Tom Hanks took on the role of astronaut James Lowell in Ron Howard's Blockbuster "Apollo 13". A film that will deeply mark him and that will push him to produce the twelve-episode TV series "From the Earth to the Moon" in 1998 which tells the story of the American space conquest through the Apollo program. Following these shoots, he regularly wears an Omega Speedmaster Chronograph from the 1970s in the image of the Astronauts whose role he took on and magnified the legend.

A NASA astronaut watch par excellence, the Omega Speedmaster chronograph is worn by all generations of pilots in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. The Speedmaster is also involved in subsequent NASA missions with the Skylab program and the STS Space Shuttle space shuttle program.

Why so much success and loyalty to this model which, at the end of the Space-Shuttle program in 2011, was more than fifty years old: The Omega chronograph saved the crew of Apollo 13 by enabling module pilot Jack Swigert to carry out several trajectory corrections maneuvers during the return to Earth.

A first crucial ignition sequence of the lunar module's descent engine of 14 seconds and managed on Swigert's Speedmaster will allow, while all the instruments are off, to circumvent the Moon and return to Earth.

Two hours after the circumvention of the Moon, the commissioning of the engine of the LEM always timed with the Speedmaster allows after a precise count of 264 seconds to modify the speed of the vessel to propel the spacecraft in distress in the direction of the Earth. All these maneuvers are carried out in a powered-down spacecraft, without the aid of instruments and the on-board computer to save the energy necessary for the re-entry sequence into the atmosphere.

The Odyssey, name given to the Apollo 13 command capsule, will land in the Pacific Ocean off the Fiji Islands on April 17, 1970, at 6:07 p.m. intact.

If the question of carrying a watch during flights was previously judged as a fantasy or a pilot's whim for many NASA engineers, it is after this epic that the Speedmaster Omega chronograph forged its notoriety and justified the affection the Astronauts have for him.

"A bond that ties us to life", as reported by all those who, in the sky or in space, have been confronted with instrument failures and have applied in a last burst of survival the rules of navigation "of timed driving”. A pilot never separates from his watch, this is what will justify the carrying by Astronaut Charles Conrad during the Gemini V mission of his Glycine Airman watch which saved his life on several occasions in the sky of Vietnam, keeping it on his left wrist, while on his right wrist he wore his regulation, Omega Speedmaster.

On October 5, 1970, Omega Watch Company received the Silver Snoopy Award from NASA in recognition of the services rendered by its Speedmaster chronograph in contributing to the success of NASA's space program and manned flights. A distinction proof of heroism and professionalism in the image of Snoppy, NASA's mascot, chosen for his ability to remain placid and optimistic in the face of the most dramatic situations.

Omega since then will produce three commemorative models with the 2020 model, the first Speedmaster reference 3578.51.00 caliber 1861 from 2003, a limited series of 5441 pieces with the “Eyes on the Stars” logo on the dial and on the back of the case. In 2015, for the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, the edition in 1970 copies of the Speedmaster Silver Snoopy Award chronograph with its white dial, the countdown on the Apollo 13 14-second time track and the mention on the center “Failure is not an Option”.

Third opus of the Omega Speedmaster Snoopy Award chronograph, a modern model that Omega has just presented ... on October 7, 2020. A Snoopy Award 2020 copy with an elegant, blue-tinted dial for the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission and the discount at the Biel manufacture of the Silver Snoopy Award. A watch that will certainly interest collectors but which, like previous models, will not be produced in a limited series.

This legendary watch that arouses so much enthusiasm is still relevant at NASA. Soon, manned flights to the planet Mars will carry Astronauts wearing Omega Speedmasters on their wrists, like Commander Emma Green, the American astronaut played by Hilary Swank in the TV series “Away”. A fiction series broadcast since 2020 that tells the story of the first expedition to Mars and its crew...