Latest news with #Mercury7
Stuff.tv
4 days ago
- Science
- Stuff.tv
Breitling celebrates its history of space exploration with 50-piece limited-edition Navitimer Cosmonaute
Breitling is marking what would've been astronaut Scott Carpenter's 100th birthday with a tribute that's as rare as it is meaningful – a 50-piece platinum Navitimer Cosmonaute. It's a nod to a milestone moment in both space and watch history: the first Swiss wristwatch in space. First, a little history lesson. On 24 May 1962, Carpenter became the second American to orbit Earth as part of NASA's Mercury-Atlas 7 mission. On his wrist was a custom-built Breitling Navitimer, adapted for life in zero gravity. It had a 24-hour dial, a stretch-metal bracelet to fit over his spacesuit, and a wider bezel for gloved hands – changes he personally requested. Breitling's Willy Breitling made it happen just days before launch. Six decades on, Breitling is celebrating that legacy with the Navitimer B02 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute Scott Carpenter Centenary. It's powered by the manually wound B02 calibre with a 24-hour display, just like the original. You can see it ticking away through the sapphire caseback, engraved with tributes to Carpenter, his Aurora 7 capsule, and the Mercury 7 astronaut group. The watch face channels Earth from orbit – a deep blue dial for the planet, a crisp white slide rule for the clouds. This is also reflected in the matching blue alligator strap. It's topped off with a white-gold clasp and presented in a wooden box, alongside a replica of Carpenter's Mercury 7 name badge. Breitling CEO Georges Kern said, 'Willy Breitling didn't hesitate when Scott Carpenter asked for a watch built for space; he made it happen. That spirit – being innovative, taking risks, pushing limits – is how we still operate today.' The original Cosmonaute was water-damaged during Carpenter's Atlantic splashdown and lay untouched in Breitling's archives for decades, finally re-emerging in 2022. It was recently displayed as part of the brand's 140th-anniversary museum pop-up in Zurich, its corroded dial now resembling the surface of an alien world. Only 50 of these platinum Navitimer Cosmonaute centenary edition exist – and it's available now for $42,000 / £34,500. Liked this? TAG Heuer launches a trio of Monaco watches for the Monaco GP, and I'm having trouble choosing a favourite
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Deseret News archives: Mercury 7 crew introduced to the American public
A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives. On April 9, 1959, NASA introduced the 'Mercury Seven,' its first seven astronauts: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Donald 'Deke' Slayton, to the world. That day, in a gathering in the ballroom of the Dolley Madison House on Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., the astronauts were seated at a long table on a makeshift stage, and NASA Administrator T. Keith Glennan introduced them in alphabetical order: 'Malcolm S. Carpenter, Leroy G. Cooper, John H. Glenn, Virgil I. Grissom, Walter M. Schirra, Alan B. Shepard, and Donald K. Slayton … the nation's Mercury astronauts!' After a brief photo session, for the next 90 minutes the new astronauts responded to numerous questions from the reporters gathered in the ballroom. For most of the men, this was a new experience as they had little prior exposure to the media in their previous jobs as test pilots. By the time the event concluded, it was clear to them that their lives had changed forever, and public attention would be as much a part of their jobs as training for and flying in space. Chasing the USSR in the space race, the Americans had some catching up to do. But catch up they did. Twenty-three days after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin traveled into space, Shepard made a 15-minute suborbital flight aboard Freedom 7, with five of those minutes in space. Years later, the commander of Apollo 14, Shepard took a golf club to the moon and hit two golf balls on the lunar surface to demonstrate lunar gravity. Within three years, Glenn orbited the earth. A long public service career followed. A couple of months later, Carpenter followed him around the globe. Schirra went into space three times, and perhaps was more known in later years as a TV analyst of space missions. Grissom was the second to fly in space, later dying with astronauts Ed White and Roger B. Chaffee on Jan. 27, 1967, during a pre-launch test for the Apollo 1 mission in Florida. Cooper piloted the longest and last Mercury spaceflight, Mercury-Atlas 9. During that 34-hour mission he became the first American to spend an entire day in space, the first to sleep in space and the last American launched on an entirely solo orbital mission. Slayton became NASA's first Chief of the Astronaut Office and Director of Flight Crew Operations, responsible for NASA crew assignments. He also helped develop the Space Shuttle. The original seven were immortalized in Tom Wolfe's 1979 book 'The Right Stuff,' which became a 1983 epic historical drama film. 'Meet the volunteers for U.S. space trip,' read the headline in that day's Deseret News. Here are some stories from Deseret News archives about the Mercury 7 astronauts: 'Astronaut John Glenn's reason why the Project Mercury mission was a success' 'Scott Carpenter, one of original Mercury 7 astronauts, dies at 88 (+photos)' 'Wally Schirra, space pioneer' 'Space pioneer Alan Shepard' 'Astronaut John Glenn's reason why the Project Mercury mission was a success' 'Liberty 7 capsule pulled from ocean after 38 years' 'From shuttlecock to shuttle' 'Stamp honors 1st American in space 50 years later' 'Former astronaut, U.S. Sen. John Glenn of Ohio has died at 95″ 'Aviation pioneer ready to ride into space' '1959 memo pushed Utah in 'space''
