On 17 April, 1970, the world paused in concern for a small command module, floating on the waves of the Pacific. Originally, its occupants – astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise of Apollo 13 – were destined to be part of the third NASA mission to land on the Moon, but it wasn’t to be. More than 200,000 miles away from Earth, an oxygen tank in their service module exploded. The crew’s survival skills, technical improvisation and courage allowed them to achieve the original trajectory once again, and turn back to Earth. In the module’s 14-second course correction, the astronauts activated the reserve timers on their Omega Speedmasters. The watch brand was honoured in the same year with the Silver Snoopy Award.
What could you do in 14 seconds?
Snoopy, the little dog from the comic series ‘Peanuts’, is the mascot of NASA, and now adorns the dial of the Omega 45th Anniversary watch, along with the motto, ‘successful failure of Space History’. Cased in a classic Black and White Omega Speedmaster, the Apollo 13 Silver Snoopy Award not only carries a distinctive mark of a small sleeping dog at 9 o’clock, but also the legendary phrase, ‘What could you do in 14 seconds?’ and the statement of the NASA Flight Director, ‘Failure is not an option’ on the dial. On the back, there is also a silver Astronaut Snoopy, alongside the same Omega caliber 1861 hand-winding movement that drives the legendary Moon Watch. This highly collectable timepiece is limited to just 1970 pieces – one of which, however, has already been secured by our watch expert, J. Philip Rathgen.
