zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

Thanks for the Response Chuck.

I am asking because I have recently came in possession of a few Nasa artifacts as well as a Speedmaster Pro Mark 2.

Here is the story:

A family friend in his late 80's had passed away recently. John originally was a Pilot in WW2 for Germany. After the war he moved on to work for U.S government counter-intelligence, and much later worked as a district manager for the Pinkerton's company.

John had known my Mother for more than 15 years and had no family left. Much of the time I spent with him I heard many amazing stories. One story he told me was about how he got his Omega Speedmaster Mark2.

It's been about 5 years so I will do my best to remember the story. Basically he told me that a Russian submarine was off the coast of Florida spying and interfering with NASA's space launch. (Sorry I don't remember details). John had said that he consulted NASA / US Government and was given the Mark2 by Schirra for helping them. John had also shown me an Apollo 7 Patch that “was cut from a NASA jacket” and a genuine NASA flight jacket with Johns name on it.

Since John’s death I now have the patch (http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo-7/apollo-7-patch.jpg), the omega Mark2, and the NASA Jacket with his name on it. I was also told that the Mark2 had been in space.

I will post some pictures of the jacket, patch, and watch soon.

John did not say the watch was from Apollo 7 nor does he have any pictures of him with NASA.

The story is pretty amazing if it is true. John didn’t seem to be the type to make up stories. I was shown so many of his old pictures and was told their story. I really should of made more of an effort to get details about the watch and jacket before he passed away.

(R.I.P John).

: Omega Mark 2 Posted By: Joseph Date:
: 3/31/08 20:11:56 GMT

: Hi guys,

: Does anyone have information regarding the
: Omega pro Speedmaster Mark 2 ever being in
: space? I don't have any such information,
: and I have never seen any such information,
: credible or not, anywhere...

: Specifically Apollo 7 or around that time.
: The problem with the Mark II and it's usage
: in Space [especially in the Apollo Era] is
: that the Mark II is a 1969 model. Apollo 7
: [and 8] occurred in 1968. Additionally, by
: that time, NASA had around 90 Speedmaster
: "Mark I"'s on hand for Astronaut
: use. So while it's possible an Apollo era
: Astronaut might have bought a Mark II as a
: backup timepiece, NASA would have provided a
: Mark I Speedmaster Gratis for the assking.

: Astronaut David Scott wore a Waltham
: chronograph as a backup, but it came out
: after Apollo 15 that he agreed to bring
: along some Waltham timepieces for evaluation
: on that mission.

: No mention of a Mark II being used in a similar
: fashion has ever come from a credible
: source.

: Thanks. I'm a big fan of the Mark II and
: in fact, my first Omega was [and is as I
: still own it] a Mark II. But as great of a
: watch as it is... Speedmaster
: Professional Mark II: Reborn...:

:
: ... I strongly doubt it was ever used on an
: Apollo mission. Perhaps it's made a shuttle
: flight, but again I've seen no documentation
: of such a flight.

: Hope this doesn't disappoint, but it's my
: experience on the topic.

: Good Hunting! -- Chuck
: Chuck Maddox

: Chronographs, like most finer things
: in life, only improve with time...
: Watch Article index :
: http://www.xnet.com/~cmaddox/cm3articles.html
: , Watch Links Page :
: http://www.xnet.com/~cmaddox/watch.html ,
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: http://chuckmaddoxwatch.blogspot.com/ .

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