Long thought to be lost
to history, the first Swiss-made watch to be worn in space has been found just in time to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its mission.
Breitling on Tuesday (May 24)
to history, the first Swiss-made watch to be worn in space has been found just in time to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its mission.
Launched on May 24, 1962,
Carpenter's Mercury-Atlas 7 mission preceded NASA's efforts to select a watch for its astronauts to use while in space.
It fell to Carpenter to reach
out to Breitling, which had a reputation for making chronographs for aviators, and ask for a version of its Navitimer to be modified for use in Earth orbit.
After an off-target splashdown
Carpenter returned the Cosmonaute to Breitling, but the corroded timepiece was said to be beyond saving.