Claudie Haigneré... Breitling aerospace Mission Cassiopée on the MIR station...

Claudie Haigneré… breitling aerospace mission Cassiopée, the first Frenchwoman in space aboard the MIR station

"At the origin of a feat, there is inspiration and enormous preparation", it is with these words that Claudie Haigneré will conclude her intervention during a speech given to the teams of the Operator. SFR Business Team in the 2010s. A precise, motivating intervention which aimed to mark the beginning of the transformation of the mobile telephony group and prepare it for its future challenges.

If there are women who marked their time and inspired future generations, history will recognize Claudie Haigneré as one of them: On August 17, 1996, after 11 long years of selection, Claudie Haigneré (Claudie André Deshays at the time) will take off for a historic flight aboard the Soyuz TM-24 for the Franco-Russian Cassiopée mission. A mission that will see him spend 16 days aboard the Russian orbital station MIR with Russian cosmonauts Yuri Onufrienko and Yuri Ousachov to carry out multiple scientific experiments for future space missions to Mars. On this occasion, she will become the first French woman in space, inspiring a whole generation of women who will head towards aerospace or military careers in order to follow the path opened up by this exceptional woman.

A feat that will mark a milestone and propel her to the front of the stage, allowing her to fly a second time in space during the Andromeda mission on October 21, 2001. This time she will stay in the International Space Station (ISS). Claudie Haigneré's curriculum is impressive: Baccalaureate at fifteen, Rheumatologist specializing in aeronautical medicine, Doctor of neurosciences, ESA (European space agency) astronaut, Minister delegate for research and new technologies, then Minister delegate for business Europeans. His commitment to science and technology will allow him to administer the launch of Universcience, the public establishment resulting from the merger of the Cité des Sciences et de l'industrie and the Palais de la Découverte.

It was at the Paris Air Show, 1995 edition, that Ernest Schneider, the Boss of Breitling, challenged by two journalists (Stefan Ciejka and Thierry Serna) on the future of the Cosmonaute navitimer range, became aware of the importance and impact of Claudie Haigneré's future flight the following year. It is also on this occasion that the concept of a single watch model for men and women will be born... there is no difference in stains for a pilot or an astronaut, whether male or female... the use and need are the same.

From this exchange will be born the Breitling Aerospace Mission Cassiopé. A watch produced in a limited series of 100 copies stamped with the Franco-Russian mission logo on the dial and featuring the distinctive markings of the model and serial numbers on the back. A watch that will be the alternative to the gray-dial Poljot Sturmanskie chronographs of the Russian Cosmonauts Flyback watch used in the Soviet Air Force that the Baikonur cosmonauts used to use during their space missions.

These two watches are totally different: The Breitling Aerospace Mission Cassiopée is a watch with a dual digital and analog display; Its 40 mm case has a two-tone satin-brushed titanium bracelet. The watch is equipped with a Caliber 56 Quartz movement. Movement with a quadruple display of functions by rotating the crown: chronograph, twenty-four-hour countdown, second time zone or GMT, alarm mode with alarm clock and current date calendar.

This movement is based on the ETA 998.332 caliber manufactured exclusively for Breitling and will be chronometer-certified by the COSC in its B65 Superquartz evolution.
This watch has a unidirectional rotating bezel notched and indexed over sixty minutes. The sapphire crystal that protects it is anti-reflective treatment. The dial's hands and hour markers are luminescent with Luminova. The watch is equipped with a folding clasp, adjustable in length, by means of springs, in order to be able to adjust automatically and be worn either above or below a shirt or a flight suit.

The Poljot Sturmanskie is a traditional analog display chronograph. Its Caliber 31659 movement, with seventeen jewels, drives a small second’s chronograph, two counters with a flyback function. This movement operates at a speed of eighteen thousand vibrations per hour, protected by a 38 mm steel case, fitted with a winding crown on the right and a rotating bezel crown on the left. This internal bezel, protected by a Plexiglas glass, has no protruding edges. This watch can be used without risk of damage to pressurize clothing. The bezel is indexed at twelve o'clock every half hour, it has a luminescent triangular marker at twelve o'clock.

A red hand on the counter on the right allows you to follow a time count over thirty minutes. The counter is magnified with five-minute white areas in intervals with gray areas to obtain an optimal gain in visual contrast. The counter on the left is indexed over sixty seconds, its progression is marked by a railroad indexed in minutes and marked every five. The main time track has a white background with metallic baton indexes, illuminated with Tritium in the upper part. A date window is housed at six o’clock, surmounted by the wings of the Soviet Air Force. The central hands are in metal enhanced with Tritium, the second hand is red.
On the back of the case is the distinctive series marking of the Air Force endowment watches. Given the extensive stay in orbit record of Soviet and Russian cosmonauts, this watch therefore holds the title of the most used watch in space.