Friday, July 20, 2012

NASA Rolex Coolness: Captain James Lovell...



Real Astronauts & Test Pilots Wear Rolex
NASA Rolex Coolness: Captain James Lovell
[Pepsi GMT-Master On A Rolex Jubilee Bracelet]

Just in-case you are new to Jake's Rolex World, I will give you some detail on why this first photo is so profound. As most people know Omega was chosen to be the official watch of NASA during the Apollo program, but the really strange thing, is that years ago, when I started digging through the NASA Archives, I kept finding photos of Test Pilots as well as NASA Apollo Astronauts wearing Rolex GMT-Master watches to the Moon and back!!! Of course, I was shocked at first, but not surprised!!!

Recent Kennedy Space Center Photo Of NASA Apollo 13 Mission Commander James Lovell Wearing His Vintage Pepsi GMT Master




Real Astronauts & Test Pilots Prefer Pepsi
And An Occasional Mocha And Lacoste Alligators

One thing led to another and I found out that many, many of the Apollo astronauts were not only wearing their personal Rolex GMT-Master watches to the moon and back, but in their personal lives. So far, I have documented the following NASA Astronauts wearing Rolex Watches:
  • Chuck Yeager of Edwards Air Force Base was first to break sound barrier in 1947 while wearing a Rolex Perpetual Oyster.
  • William Knight of Edwards Air Force Base Fastest manned flight of Mach 6.7 (4,250 Miles Per Hour ins X-15 which is nearly 7 times the speed of sound) in 1967.
  • Scott Carpenter of Mercury 7.
  • Walter Schirra of Mercury 8, Gemini 6A & Apollo 7.
  • Michael Collins of Gemini 10 & Apollo 11.
  • Jack Swigert of Apollo 13 (Wore to Moon).
  • James Lovell was a U.S. Navy Test Pilot and went onto NASA to participate in Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 & Apollo 13 (Pictured Above).
  • Stuart Roosa of Apollo 14 (Wore to Moon).
  • Dr. Edgar Mitchell of Apollo 14 (Wore to Moon).
  • Alan Sheppard of Mercury 3 & Apollo 14 (Worn On Cape Canaveral & Possibly To The Moon).
  • Ronald Evans of Apollo 17 (Wore to Moon).
  • Eugene Cernan of Gemini 9A, Apollo 10 & Apollo 17 (Worn Outside Space Suit and Possible To The Moon).
  • Dr. Leroy Chaio (Wore on 3 Space Shuttle Missions and while Commander of the International Space Station Expedition 10).
The list above is not complete, and I am aware of more Rolex Moon Watch history which I will be publishing in the future. I also intend to do a future series named "The Complete History Of Rolex Watches In Space" which will tie everything together and give a holistic overview of this fascinating subject.

In this next image below, we see a younger NASA Apollo 13 Mission Commander, James Lovell speaking with his Apollo 13 mission astronaut, Jack Swigert who is wearing his Pepsi Rolex GMT-Master in the photo. James Lovell is picture second from the left wearing the light blue Lacoste polo shirt with an alligator on it. Jack Swigert is on the far right.


In the photo below we see Apollo 13 Mission Commander, James Lovell with his fellow Apollo 13 flight mates during their Steak & Eggs breakfast as they prepare to leave for the moon.


In this next photo below, we see a close-up of Jack Swigert wearing a Lacoste polo shirt with an alligator on it and sporting his Pepsi Rolex GMT-Master during the steak and eggs breakfast just before they took off for the Moon.


In the photo below we see the Apollo 13 flight team after they had returned safely to Earth. Not that Jack Swigert is wearing a yellow gold Rolex Mocha GMT on a Jubilee Bracelet. James Lovell is pictured on the far right.


In this next image we see Jack Swigert's official NASA photo and he is sporting the same yellow gold Rolex Mocha GMT-Master on a Rolex Jubilee bracelet as in the photo above.