:
: the original NASA testing, which resulted in
: the Speedmaster being selected for use on
: space flights, commenced in 1962 and was
: completed by 1965. I believe that there were
: only five watches in this competition.

: There may have been a second round of testing,
: some years later, and the Hamilton
: Count-Down could have been included in that
: test. I will do some further research and
: let you know what I learn (or perhaps Mr.
: Maddox can provide this information).

: Jeff

Hi guys...

2001 is an amazing movie, but it's a movie... Yes, Hamilton made some mockup watches for the film but they were not manufactured pieces at the time of filming [1968 roughly].

The initial phase of NASA testing happened in the 1961-1965 timeframe as Jeff indicated. I do not know if Hamilton was seriously considered in that round of testing, but I believe it was not.

The second round of NASA testing happened in 1978 [five years after the last moon mission] and I believe Hamilton was one of the participating firms [for a Shuttle Astronaut watch] but I am unaware of any documentation as to which models participated in the testing other than Omega submitted three candidates [moonwatch of some stripe and two unknown other models - perhaps a Mark II and/or Automatic of some stripe or a Tuning fork/Quartz model?] and the "classic moonwatch" was the winner of the tests.

While it's possible that a count-down Hami was tested by Hami, I am unaware of any documentation about which specific watch models were tested in the 1978 tests

Sorry I don't have any more specific answers, but I am unaware of any source materials with which to provide better answers.

-- Chuck