Reply With QuoteOutstanding post - I can't wait for the continuation!
The saddest day of my life...
There are watches that become intrinsically linked with the people that wore them, some real people, some fictional characters... ‘Paul Newman’ Daytona, ‘Steve McQueen’ Explorer, Seiko ‘Arnie’ or the ‘Capt Willard’ 6105 to name but a few. Then there are the watches that are linked to the activity they are associated with – most famously of course being the Omega Speedmaster ‘Moonwatch’.
My personal favourite however, is the ‘Ed White’ Omega Speedmaster 105.003. There can’t be many people for whom the history of space exploration does not hold some level of fascination, especially those who, like me, are technically minded and also interested in horology. I am aware that some people really don’t like watches being given nicknames and much prefer the official reference numbers to be used, but with the long awaited arrival with me today of a very fine example, I thought I would summarise the relevant history of this particular model, its place in Speedmaster mythology and the man and mission that provided the Ed White association...
Somewhat overshadowed by the whole Speedmaster Moonwatch, ‘First Watch Worn on the Moon’ phenomenon, the Ed White Speedmaster has a significant role in the back story to the Speedmaster and its space connections. Its story also has elements of extreme bravery, technological breakthrough and personal tragedy resulting in the most ultimate sacrifice that can be made in the pursuance of science and space exploration.
The Pre Mooon Speedmaster in Space
Before the moon landing in 1969 there was already a growing connection between the Speedmaster and space.
The first Speedmaster in space was a CK2998 worn by astronaut Walter M Schirra Jr in October 1962 during the Mercury-Atlas 8 (MA-8) mission, this was Wally Schirra’s personal watch and the Speedmaster clocked up its first 9hrs 13mins 11secs of space time.
The Speedmaster flew again seven months later on the final Mercury mission (MA-9) when Gordon Cooper became the first American in space for over a day, the mission lasting 1day 10hrs 19mins 49secs. Interestingly, Cooper also wore a Bulova Accutron, (not a chronograph, but powered by the then very new electric movement technology) in order to compare performance in space – perhaps the very beginning of the selection process. During this mission, Cooper used his Speedmaster, (another CK2998) to time the firing sequence during re-entry – the first ‘Professional’ application for the Speedmaster in space...
It must have become clear to NASA that a personal timing device was essential for future missions and that this must meet a number of reliability criteria – the search for a watch suitable for use in the upcoming Gemini missions commenced...
It is well documented that NASA purchased from a high street jewellers near to the space center in Houston a wide range of chronographs originally selected for testing, including those from Elgin, Benrus, Hamilton, Mido, Piccard, Omega, Bulova, Rolex, Longine and Gruen. However, it was only the Longines Wittnauer, Rolex Daytona and Omega Speedmaster that went on to be subjected to a series of pretty gruelling series of tests including decompression, acceleration, zero G exposure, severe shock, vibration and extreme temperature differentials.
This resulted in, on the 1st March 1965, the Omega Speedmaster being selected by NASA to be the only watch officially qualified for space flight. (Most likely the watch tested would have been a 105.012 Speedmaster model.)
The Gemini Project
The Gemini missions were commissioned in support of the ultimate charter from John F Kennedy to put a man on the moon, originally titled Mercury II the programme was introduced in December 1961. The project was quickly and aptly renamed Gemini in January 1963, Gemini meaning twins and the newly designed spacecraft having a two man crew.
The mission objectives were intended to test and prove a number of factors that would be essential to the proposed Apollo missions, already in the early planning stage:
- To demonstrate endurance of humans and equipment to spaceflight for extended periods, at least eight days required for a Moon landing, to a maximum of two weeks
- To effect rendezvous and docking with another vehicle, and to manoeuvre the combined spacecraft using the propulsion system of the target vehicle
- To demonstrate Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA), or ‘spacewalk’ outside the protection of the spacecraft, and to evaluate the astronauts' ability to perform tasks there
- To perfect techniques of atmospheric re-entry and landing at a pre-selected location
- To provide the astronauts with zero-gravity, rendezvous, and docking experience required for Apollo
All in all, sixteen astronauts, (including both Neil Armstrong, G-IIX and Buzz Aldrin, G-XII) flew in ten manned Gemini missions, (the first two missions being unmanned).
Cutaway view of the Gemini spacecraft that took Ed White and Gus Grissom into space during Gemini IV (Photo NASA)
Gemini III was a manned vehicle test flight by astronauts Grissom and Young and blasted off on 23rd March 1965 atop the Titan II launch rocket for three orbits of earth, total mission time 4hr 52mins 31secs.
Gemini IV, to be flown by Command Pilot James A McDivitt and Pilot Edward H White II was scheduled for launch on the 3rd June 1965 at 1515GMT...
Gemini IV, Ed White and the first US EVA
Edward H White II was born into a military family, (his father was a US Air Force major General) who graduated West Point in 1952 with a BSc and a commission into the USAF. Flight school followed West Point on completion of which he was posted to the 22nd Fighter Day Squadron flying F86 Sabre and F100 Super Sabre fast jets for three and a half years.
Edward H White II (Photo NASA)
In 1958 Ed White commenced a Masters Degree in Aeronautical Engineering under an Air Force scholarship and on graduation was selected to join the Test
Pilot School and subsequently became a test pilot posted at Wright Patterson AFB. This was the astronaut breeding ground...
By 1962 he had been selected as a Gemini astronaut and assigned to the historic Gemini IV mission.
One of the key mission objectives for G-IV was to complete the first US Spacewalk, (the first man to carry out a spacewalk was Soviet Aleksei Leonov on Voskhod 2 only a few months earlier in March 1965 – but is thought that he did not wear a watch, at least not outside of his protective suit).
The G-IV spacewalk was originally intended to be completed during the second revolution, but the crew decided to postpone after a failed mission task to rendezvous with the spent second stage of their launch vehicle.
By the third revolution they were good to go, the crew prepared themselves, the spacecraft cabin was de-pressurised and over Hawaii and McDivitt turned the hatch handle...
/cont...
Outstanding post - I can't wait for the continuation!
David
Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations
...the latches did not disengage and the hatch remained firmly closed.
Fortunately, McDivitt had experienced a similar hatch problem during some ground testing and the crew took the brave decision to disengage the latches manually – they could not have been certain that they would be able to get the capsule hatch closed again after the EVA and re-entry would not be possible without a fully latched hatch.
Finally, on 3rd June 1965 at 1943GMT Ed White thrust himself forward and out of the hatch...
Edward H White II during first NASA EVA (Photo(s) Flickr NASA)
The Spacewalk did not go off without a hitch. Communication problems with a new VOX voice activated microphone switch meant that down in Mission Control Gus Grissom could not contact the Gemini crew – he tried forty times in thirteen minutes before full communication was successfully regained. Whilst outside of the capsule, Ed White could only communicate with McDivitt and messages from the ground had be relayed. By the time McDivitt finally switched to PTT from the u/s VOX mike activation, Mission Control were anxious that White returned to the capsule before the spacecraft entered darkness and lost contact with the Bermuda tracking station...
McDivitt, to White: I'm going out to PUSH-TO-TALK and see what the Flight Director has got to say.
Flight Director Chris Kraft, to Grissom: The flight director says, get back in! (Kraft was not on the air-to-ground loop with the astronauts.)
McDivitt: Gus, this is Jim. Got any message for us?
Grissom: Gemini 4, get back in!
McDivitt: Okay. ... (to White): ... They want you to come back in now.
Despite some further stalling tactics from Ed White, he eventually relented and re-entered the capsule some 22 minutes after leaving. His final words before clambering back through the hatch were:
The watch Ed White was wearing during the historic spacewalk? The Omega Speedmaster 105.003... thus becoming the first wristwatch ever worn outside of a spacesuit in the environs of space."I’m coming back in... and it’s the saddest moment of my life!"
Rumour has it that it was only after seeing photographs on the cover of ‘Life’ magazine of Ed White wearing his Speedmaster that Omega realised that it was being used by NASA – and this directly lead to the Speedmasters subsequent ‘Professional’ moniker added to the dial and remaining to this day. (Although there are, (apparently) order forms to Omega from the Gemini Programme procurement office dated 1964 that would suggest Omega were well aware of the watches mission role!)
It is a fact that the Ed White spacewalk images were heavily utilised by the Omega marketing department for many years afterwards...
(It is also rumoured that Ed White was also wearing another watch during the EVA, a Bulova Accutron similar to that worn by Cooper back during MA-9, although I have spent some time searching there are very few references to back up this theory on the net – and it is the Omega that took the ultimate glory.)
Edward H White II during his 22 minute EVA, wearing his Speedmaster 105.003 (Photo: WUS)
Despite the hatch proving to be as difficult to close and latch as it was to open, James McDivitt once again managed to release the stubborn spring and get it closed correctly – we can only imagine what may have been going through the back of not only the crews minds during this time, but also all those at Mission Control!
The trials and tribulations for the Gemini IV crew did end there, a computer failure, (to be embarrassment of IBM who had just run a large advertising campaign around the fact their computers were controlling the spacecraft) prevented the standard automatic re-entry procedure being used and the crew had to fall back on old mercury Project method – but Gemini IV successfully re-entered earth’s atmosphere following a manual procedure, on 7th June 1965. Total mission time: 4days 1hour 56mins 12secs.
James McDivitt and, in particular, Edward H White II returned to a hero’s welcome.
Edward H White II (left) and James McDivitt speak to President Johnson after a successful splashdown (Photo Flickr)
Afterwards...
After his return, Ed White was assigned to the back up crew of Gemini VII and then as ‘Astronaut Specialist’ for the design of the Apollo Command / Service Module flight control systems.
In March 1966 he was assigned to the crew of the first manned Apollo mission, Apollo I along with Virgil ‘Gus’ Grissom and first time astronaut Roger Chaffee, scheduled for launch on 21st February 1967...
Tragically, during a full launch rehearsal on the 27th January, a fire broke out in the highly pressurised 100% Oxygen environment of the crew compartment and all three astronauts were killed by asphyxiation and smoke inhalation. Ed Whites task during an emergency situation was to open the hatch to allow escape – his body was found reaching forward toward the hatch release, an impossible task due to the speed the fire spread and design flaws in the hatch opening procedures and cabin pressurisation. He was wearing his Speedmaster 105.003 at the time of his death.
He was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honour and buried with full military honours in the cemetery at West Point, Arlington.
His Speedmaster was presented to his wife, Patricia who passed the watch down to his son Edward H White III, as recorded in a 1999 letter by Ed White III that can be seen on Chuck Maddox’s website, along with a photo of the actual watch, (see link below). Possibly this letter was prepared as provenance for sale, as the watch was sold at auction in 1999 for $35,500...
The original Ed White Speedmaster auction description (Photo Chuck Maddox)
Nothing else had been heard about it since...
So, in my humble opinion, calling this the ‘Ed White’ Speedmaster is a fitting and worthy way of remembering a dedicated pioneer of space exploration, the nickname for a true tool watch – the Omega Speedmaster ST 105.003.
I am sure that I will at some point be posting up a more detailed review of the watch itself, but I hope the potted history of the model and how it became known as it is, has been of interest.
Cheers,
Rob
Sources and references:
(Link removed to the Chuck Maddox site due to potential virus issue...)
http://chuckmaddoxwatch.blogspot.co....ed-whites.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_missions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega_Speedmaster
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Higgins_White
http://forums.watchuseek.com/f45/ome...-nasa-132.html
http://www.omegawatches.com/spirit/p...master-history
Last edited by AIDM; 9th September 2013 at 19:07. Reason: Removed direct link to Chucks site :(
Fantastic stuff thank you so much for taking the time and effort to deliver this
RIAC
Superb post ,will copy to my astronaut obsessed buddy.
I didn't have to wait long!
Thanks very much Rob - superb background detail and great shots of the watch. The Apollo 1 tragedy was evidence of the speed and dangers of the space race but the changes implemented following the crew's loss probably saved lives later on in the program.
Armstrong and Aldrin didn't forget their fallen comrades and left an Apollo 1 patch on the moon in tribute.
Last edited by dkpw; 2nd July 2019 at 00:58.
David
Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations
Brilliant post, thanks.
I've had a lifelong interest in spaceflight and avaition having grown up in the era of Mercury/Gemini/Apollo. I only came to watch collecting in my later years and am amazed at just how much overlap there is between the two interests. Hence Speedies and Accutrons are amongst my faves.
Again, thanks for this very informative post.
Thanks for the thread. It's answered some questions for me; and raised another. Why do Omega have it listed as the ST 103.0003 (see link)? Am I looking at the wrong watch? I went to their "Vintage Omegas" page, made a search for "Speedmaster" and found ST 105.0003 on page two of the results.Originally Posted by AIDM
Mind you, I've just noticed that it's shown as being part of the Seamaster Collection on the search page, so that too makes me wonder...
Brilliant. Thanks for posting.
Fantastic write up and a wonderful watch. Thanks for taking the time to post this. This is a watch I aspire to own one day.
Best Thread in a good while!
Excellent posts and, as others have stated, thanks for taking the time to post. I'll be copying your posts to a Word document for reference - to keep alongside my own 'Ed White.'
one of the best thread ever !!!
Thank you very much for that :D
Thanks Rob, a very interesting and informative thread. Your Ed White is a great example - is it a 64 or 65? I'll be interested to hear what you think of the watch itself after you've had a chance to appreciate it a little more.
My example is currently with Duncan @ Genesis, can't wait to get it back, and seeing yours there has made me even more impatient...
Excellent post. Glad you finally got hold of one!
Saw this over on TWF, but great post and fantastic watch!
A great post and learnt a lot of new information around the NASA space programme and the heroes involved.
Thank you
Great post and a beautiful watch!
Great thread! Really interesting!
My son has just graduated his masters with first class honours in the same subject as Mr White and is hoping to go into this line of work.
Who knows, a member could be writing about him in twenty years time?
Best get something to replace that Hugo Boss thing he's currently wearing
Outstanding thread Rob, thank you. I'm currently reading the Mike Collins biog, a superb read so far and a real insight into the technical hurdles and the shear life and death nature of the work these amazing guys were involved in.
For those who haven't seen it, Ron Howard's 'In the Shadow of The Moon' documentary is a magnificent visual insight into the whole Apollo era and does touch upon the tragic Apollo I episode. I gained immense admiration for the astronauts; fearless, dedicated, intelligent individuals who understood the risks yet powered on regardless.
As for the Speedmaster, legend, icon, the Boss, the dog's do-dahs quite frankly !
A beautiful example you have there, enjoy it chief.
Wow - thanks for all the kind comments...
It started as a simple incoming post and I got a bit carried away! Enjoyed writing it though...
Thanks David, I did intend to say something about the loss of life, whilst tragic, meaning that design and safety were hugely improved for all programmes that followed...
Didn't know about the patch left on the moon though - bet that meant a great deal to the families.
Sorry PickleB, I have no idea? I seem to recall something where an extra 0 is added for replacement cases, maybe that is it? There are some Omega experts on here, hopefully they have a better answer!
Mine is clearly marked ST 105.003-65 inside the case back.
Thanks John - would have saved me a lot of angst if you'd just sold me yours months ago! ;)
At least you can retract the restraining order now.
That's impressive Steve - I'll keep any sarky thoughts about paternity to myself. :)My son has just graduated his masters with first class honours in the same subject as Mr White and is hoping to go into this line of work.
Who knows, a member could be writing about him in twenty years time?
Best get something to replace that Hugo Boss thing he's currently wearing
Rob
- - - Updated - - -
Thanks Tony, appreciated mate...At last, Rob - welcome the the Ed White Club
A great post, at the end of a long wait. I'm delighted for you.
Rob
even although I knew everything contained, BRAVO !!
this needs to be compiled and repeated, forever.
and you have done that very nicely.
thank you
Excellent write up and for anyone who wants to know more about the Apollo missions I recommend 'A man on the moon' by Andrew Chaikin
Great post Rob . Thanks .
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
This is what it is all about, the historical context and the watch.
Thank you for sharing.
Again thanks, always my favourite watches and the NASA stories never cease to fascinate....
Great work!
I remember when Chuck was writing his stuff up about Ed White, it seems so long ago now.
Cheers,
Neil.
Enjoyed reading that Rob. Thanks for taking the time to put it together.
Best Regards - Peter
I'd hate to be with you when you're on your own.
Brilliant post!!, thanks for taking the time to put it together!!!!!
Superb stuff - thanks so much for posting it!
What a fascinating read ! Thanks for posting it, really interesting and informative read.
Truly wonderful post. Very informative, a lot in there I didn't know. Especially liked the bit about the patch left on the moon. Thanks for the taking the time and the effort Rob.
Many thanks to the OP. Excellent posts and accompanying pictures. I really enjoyed reading this - and now have started wondering what I can sell to buy a Speedmaster if not the pre-pro.
John
amazing. this is what makes the forum so great. its hard to find this sort of information on other forums. thanks for that. it was a great read!
Cheers again chaps!
One thing I forgot to mention is how I was surprised to see that Omega make no mention of Ed White or the spacewalk on their own webpage of Speedmaster history: http://www.omegawatches.com/spirit/p...master-history .
The G-III first 'official' flight gets a nod - then straight to the moon...
They made enough fuss about it at the time, rightly so - there can be only one first watch worn outside a suit on a spacewalk - I thought it may have been worth of at least a line or two in their history, but apparently not!
The 'second' watch question still intrigues me - was Ed White wearing a Bulova Accutron or not? Most wrist shots from the spacewalk are inconclusive...
Anyone know of any hard references?
Cheers,
Rob
Fantastic post! I'm a big fan of this type of historical data. Thanks for sharing.
Well that rekindled my interest in the Speedmaster, great writeup. Even though i have owned a modded 3570.50 with the "Ed White" dial (done by the previous owner) i never knew his story or realised why the "Ed White" model is so popular, as i am not much of a space buff. This story has has tempted me to pull mine from the sales section and stick it on the bracelet in the above pics (what model is the bracelet?) or even try it on the Nasa strap.
I enjoyed reading it, thanks.
I'd be very surprised if they have not already got a NEW "Ed White" ready for next year, being the 50th anniversary of the G-IV space walk. I'd expect to see a lot more published then.
Congratulations on your icon!
How long have you been collecting your 'props' for? ;0)
That Super 8 box looks interesting.
great post, thanks for that
Just another post to thank you for a great write up Rob.
Really enjoyed this very much. :)
Edit to add - there is some malware on the Maddox site, so might want to be careful with that one. At least Sophos thinks there is.
Thanks very much for posting. I have my first Speedmaster (pro) incoming this week, so I'm especially keen on these kinds of posts. Nice photos as well!
It would be very sad to think that was the case as it's the best resource out there, does Sophos provide any more info that what you've stated?
Just to add to the chorus - Great thread, thanks for posting!
Sophos blocks the picture from the site with the line:
"High risk website blocked"
"Mal/HTMLGen-A has been found at this website"
I have passed it on to the webmaster there.
Unfortunately he can't see it himself having been recently banned from here.
JW
Cheers all...
Glad to hear it! Saw your sales post, nice mod! The bracelet is a 1175, all the look of a flat link, (1035etc) but robust enough for daily wear. I was lucky enough to pick one up from Colin, (watchlovr) but they are pretty hard to find by all accounts...
They already have the FIOS, discussed here http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...=1#post2833898 knowing Omega and their fondness of LE it's not too much of a stretch from that to an Ed White 50yr special!
The great Maddox site has been doing that for a while, my home virus software lows me to view it, but it is blocked at work, the photo I linked won't even load... :(. I will remove the direct link from the post I think. I hope it can be sorted it is such a great legacy from Chuck.
Rob
What a great post! Thanks for taking the time to put it together. This is the sort of post I love reading in this forum.
this is why i like being part of some forums. a stranger takes the time out of their day to impart a little of what they know and all i have to do is sit back and enjoy the read. thanks mate, i really enjoyed the read and have just added yet another to the "one day" list
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