Lords of the Final Frontier

It’s just 10 days after the birth of England’s new royal baby, Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. And while the infant may have stolen most of the limelight away from his father, observers and royalists alike would remember reading how Prince William once entertained becoming an astronaut, a childhood dream he shared when meeting with Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi in February this year.

While most young children harbour this ambitious dream, the sentiment was echoed wholeheartedly by none other than Hollywood star and Omega brand ambassador, George Clooney, during a glittering gala dinner held that evening to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission in 1970. Just eight years old at the time of the first moon landing, Clooney remarked: “I remember, as a kid, I went outside to look at the moon to try and catch a glimpse of the Apollo mission. This was a time for us in our country when we needed these people to dream.”

And looking around us at the converted space of the Western Airways airport hangar in Sugar Land, a half-hour’s drive from downtown Houston, it would seem that it was time to dream once more. Over 200 guests, dressed to the nines, turned up for what was surely one of the most memorable nights on the Texan social calendar.

THE MOON IN TEXAS
Upon arrival, guests were greeted by ‘space-age’ models lining the pathway before being ushered into a vessel-like structure, through a mock space tunnel, for freely-flowing Perrier-Jouët and hors d’oeuvres. As Eugene Cernan, a former NASA astronaut who was launched into space three times, the most recent being 1972 at the final Apollo lunar landing where he remains the 11th and last man on the moon, remarked during the cocktail hour: “Everyone who’s anyone in Texas is here tonight.” After a simulated ‘lunar landing’, complete with light, sound and motion effects, the doors to the dining hall were thrown open, leaving guests to stare in awe at the out-of-this-world setup laid on by Omega.

Conceptualised and created by Bureau Betak, the driving force behind some of the world’s most-watched fashion shows and events like Dior’s Cruise 2016 show at the Palais Bulles in the French Riviera and Ports 1961’s recent event at Hong Kong’s Central Ferry pier (it would also be remiss of us to omit  unforgettable Victoria’s Secret extravaganzas by Betak), guests were literally invited to wine and dine the night away in a starry universe.

“Welcome to the moon,” chirped Lily Koppel, author of The Astronaut’s Wives Club, which had been made into a television series and recently premièred on ABC. Looking around at projected visions of the planets and innumerable stars, Omega president Stephen Urquhart joked to the assembly of elite Houstonians: “I hope you don’t mind that we changed the skyline of your good city.”

Aside from a host of megawatt guests in attendance, ranging from renowned Texan socialite and style icon Lynn Wyatt to NFL player Chester Pitts, three, in particular – legendary astronauts Captain Eugene Cernan, Lieutenant-General Thomas Stafford and Captain James Lovell – hogged the limelight. Omega’s brand ambassador Clooney was clearly delighted to be in the company of the space travellers. “You gentlemen are an inspiration to all of us here,” he announced. “And I have to tell you what an honour it is to be standing up here with you.”

“The astronauts when I was growing up were, of course, heroes,” he went on to say. “We knew all their names and even ate the food they ate like Space Food Sticks and drank Tang! There was this passion for outer space. After all, I was born in 1961 and it formed a big part of my life while growing up. Then, the idea of a man on the moon was absolutely impossible!”

But, as the old adage would go on to prove, nothing is ever impossible. And, indeed, the year 1969 drove that statement home, with all the force of a Saturn V rocket, as Neil Armstrong and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin fulfilled the seemingly impossible by becoming the first men to walk on the surface of the moon. “I remember running outside to see if I could see them,” said Clooney. Aside from bringing to pass President John F Kennedy’s brave pledge eight years prior, that the United States would “put a man on the moon before the end of the decade”, the success of the Apollo 11 mission also linked the spirit of space exploration to a Swiss watchmaker’s commitment to precision and flawless timekeeping forever.

THE CHOICE OF ASTRONAUTS
Any watch aficionado would be able to tell you that the Speedmaster has always been at the heart of great moments for mankind, counting itself in the thick of action at all six lunar landings. Ever since Omega beat out all other watch brands after a series of rigorous tests by NASA in 1965, the Speedmaster has enjoyed the cachet of being officially ‘Flight Qualified for all Manned Space Missions’.

“NASA put the watches through vibration, pressure, vacuum tests… and Omega won it hands-down,” said Stafford. Not known as the “Moonwatch” for nothing, it comes as no surprise then that the Speedmaster continues to be the astronaut’s faithful companion, accompanying him on shuttle missions to the present day. Apollo astronauts have also traditionally been equipped with standard Omega Speedmaster Professional normal wind wristwatches, albeit with Velcro straps in order to accommodate the change in wrist dimension if it needed to be worn outside of their pressure suits during what NASA terms “EVA” (Extra Vehicular Activity).

Clooney also wasn’t the only Hollywood star in admiration of the space heroes. Tom Hanks had also singled out Stafford for praise before, saying: “In his career as an astronaut, Thomas Stafford saw it all: Gene Cernan’s fogged-up pressure helmet, the mountains of the moon oh-so-close, a Soviet handshake in orbit. He was truly one of those few who stood on the shoulders of giants and made history.” Incidentally, it wasn’t Stafford Hanks played in the critically-acclaimed 1995 movie, Apollo 13, but Lovell.

“HOUSTON, WE’VE HAD A PROBLEM HERE”
Given the dramatic situation of the third moon landing attempt, where an on-board explosion crippled the spacecraft during flight, wiping out most of its oxygen and power supplies, the incident forced NASA’s flight controllers to abort the mission while racing against time to save the three astronauts on board from certain death by carbon dioxide poisoning. It was at this time Command Module Pilot John Swigert uttered the famous line: “Houston, we’ve had a problem here.”

“When the problem occurred on Apollo 13, we didn’t know exactly what happened at first,” Lovell recalls at a press conference earlier that morning. “When we looked out of the window and saw oxygen escaping, we knew then we were in serious, serious trouble. Everything in the spacecraft stopped. We didn’t have navigation to help us out and the clock in the spacecraft had expired; it had failed. And that’s when we had to use a watch to time the burn of the Lunar Module engine for 14 seconds in order to course-correct and come back into that wedge to make a safe landing. That’s a true story. Fortunately, we had the watches on board!”

Thanks to the cool heads of the people at mission control, working under great pressure with the space crew, and, of course, a certain timepiece, tragedy was averted, with the astronauts eventually splashing down safely in the Pacific Ocean, somewhere near Samoa, at which Lovell cheekily adds: “I kind of smile at the people who were in a comfortable control room fortified by hot coffee and cigarettes while we were in a cold, damp crippled spacecraft 200,000 miles from Earth.” “Just to add a point here,” said Urquhart, jumping in. “Remember that the Speedmaster was launched in 1957 – a few years before the space programme even began. It was never, ever conceived to go into space.”

MORE THAN PEANUTS
After nearly half a century of space adventures, it seems fitting then that a new generation of Speedmaster watches are introduced. Certainly, while the beautiful White Side of the Moon timepiece, inspired by the lunar glow we see from Earth and the new Speedmaster ‘57, are attention-getting, the piece that resonates most with all who are familiar with the saga of the aborted third lunar landing is the Apollo 13 Silver Snoopy Award watch.

Released to mark the 45th anniversary of the mission sometimes referred to as NASA’s ‘successful failure’, those wishing to own a piece of this unforgettable space lore now have their chance. Limited to just 1,970 pieces, the already iconic timepiece is a worthy homage to the qualities we, as human beings, celebrate: teamwork, quick thinking, ingenuity and courage under fire.

For those unfamiliar with the role the cartoon beagle has to play in space travel and timekeeping, it all began way back in 1968 when Snoopy was chosen to be the face of NASA’s safety programme. Charles Schulz, the cartoon character’s creator, was also the talent behind the design of the Silver Snoopy Award, which would be presented to companies or people who have contributed to the success of human space flight missions. This bond was further cemented the following year when the Apollo 10 astronauts – Cernan, Stafford and John Young – nicknamed their Lunar Module ‘Snoopy’, in reference to the ‘snooping around’ it would do on the lunar surface in order to examine the landing site for Apollo 11, while christening the Command Module ‘Charlie Brown’ as well.

It was in 1970 that, in recognition of the role the Speedmaster watches played in the successful return of the Apollo 13 astronauts, Omega received its very own Silver Snoopy Award, which was presented to the brand’s technical director, Hans Widmer, by Stafford himself.

Back on Earth, in Sugar Land, to be precise, as the Omega gala dinner slowly wound down and guests began making their way back to Houston, most among us couldn’t help but look up at the night sky, bright with stars and seemingly a little closer than ever before, re-imagining the great effort man keeps making in order to touch the heavens; the spirit of space exploration alive and almost palpable.

For those lucky enough, as we were, to have heard the stories in person or own a piece of space magic in the shape of a coveted Moonwatch, it is perhaps Clooney’s words that summed it all up best. “Our whole lives then revolved around space and Omega was the watch that went to the moon.  That was, in fact, why my father and uncle each owned their own Omega timepieces. When (then US President John F) Kennedy said we were going to land a man on the moon, the idea then seemed impossible. And I’ve always loved the idea of us looking forward.”

ASTRONAUT ENCOUNTERS
A quick look at three legends.

CAPTAIN JAMES ‘JIM’ LOVELL

• Born in 1928 in Cleveland, Ohio.
• Selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1962.
• Served as backup pilot for the Gemini 4 flight, backup commander for the Gemini 9 flight and backup commander to Neil Armstrong for the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission.
• Holder of record for time in space, with a total of 715 hours and 5 minutes until surpassed by the Skylab flights.
• First astronaut to make four space flights/missions: Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 and Apollo 13.

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL THOMAS STAFFORD

• Born in 1930 in Weatherford, Oklahoma.
• Commanded Apollo 10, which orbited the moon in May, 1969, flew on two Gemini missions and was part of the historic Apollo Soyuz mission.
• Famous for being a de facto ambassador for the United States at the height of the Cold War. Some may recall a historic “handshake in orbit” on 17th July, 1975, between Stafford and Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov.
• Attained highest speed ever reached by a test pilot (28,547mph or 45,942kph).
• Omega ambassador since 2000.

CAPTAIN EUGENE CERNAN

• Born in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois.
• Selected by NASA in 1963 to participate in the Gemini and Apollo projects.
• Veteran of the Gemini 9A, Apollo 10 and Apollo 17 space missions.
• Was the 11th and last man to walk on the moon during the Apollo 17 mission.
• Purdue University possesses the unique distinction of being the alma mater of the first man to walk on the moon (as performed by Neil Armstrong in 1969) as well as its last, as Cernan recorded in 1972.