{"id":26692,"date":"2023-04-08T15:29:05","date_gmt":"2023-04-08T08:29:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tictacwatch.com\/14-giay-lich-su\/"},"modified":"2023-04-15T13:20:38","modified_gmt":"2023-04-15T06:20:38","slug":"our-14-second-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tictacwatch.com\/en\/our-14-second-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Our 14 second story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The critical OMEGA moment that helped to save Apollo 13<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Apollo 13 mission lifted off on April the 11th<\/sup> 1970, nobody on board, nor on the ground, could ever have anticipated the drama and near disaster that lay ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The crew, commanded by veteran astronaut James Lovell, was destined for the moon. This was to be the third ever human lunar landing, and the next successful chapter of the Apollo project. Together with Command Module Pilot Jack Swigert, and Lunar Module Pilot, Fred Haise, the three astronauts were each equipped with OMEGA Speedmaster Professional chronographs \u2013 part of NASA\u2019s official kit for all manned missions since 1965.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As, the timepieces had been issued as a vital piece of mission equipment. As described by James Ragan, the NASA engineer who first tested and qualified the OMEGA Speedmaster in 1964, \u201cThe watch was a critical backup. If the astronauts ever lost the capability of talking to the ground, or the capability of their digital timers, the only thing they would have to rely on would be the watches on always their wrists. It needed to be there for them if they had a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Indeed, a major problem did occur for Apollo 13 just two days after launch. When an oxygen tank exploded on board, it crippled the Service Module and plunged the astronauts into a truly perilous situation. The mission to the moon was abandoned. Now, it was simply about getting the crew home safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Part of the innovative rescue strategy, directed from Houston, was to move the astronauts into the Lunar Module. This craft, however, was not built to support so many people for such a long time. Therefore, to conserve energy, the crew shut down nearly all power – rendering their digital timers obsolete, and leaving the astronauts at the mercy of dark and freezing conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apollo 13 faced many serious challenges over the next several days, as NASA worked around the clock to overcome the increasingly volatile situation. But it was at the final hurdle, when OMEGA\u2019s essential precision was called for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the mission had drifted off course by roughly 60 to 80 nautical miles, it meant that the module would re-enter Earth\u2019s atmosphere at the wrong angle, and bounce back into space with no chance of recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, to manually readjust the course of the craft, an exact 14-second burn of fuel was required. There was simply no room for error. Without their digital timers, Swigert instead used his OMEGA Speedmaster chronograph to time the burn, while Lovell guided the craft using the Earth\u2019s horizon as his guide. As Mission Commander James Lovell would later say, \u201cWe used the OMEGA watch that Jack had on his wrist and I had to control the spacecraft. Jack timed the burn on the engine to make that correction to get us back home safely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To huge relief, the unique manoeuvre worked perfectly, and finally, on April 17th<\/sup>, 142 hours and 54 minutes after launch, Apollo 13 splashed down safely in the South Pacific Ocean. The watch had played its part, and performed exactly as intended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later that year, on October 5th<\/sup> 1970, OMEGA was presented with NASA\u2019s \u201cSilver Snoopy Award\u201d \u2013 as a mark of gratitude for its contributions to the success of human space flight missions. When this prestigious award was first created, Snoopy was chosen as NASA\u2019s unofficial mascot because of his ability to keep things light in serious situations. He also emphasized mission success and acted as a \u201cwatchdog.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still today, the sterling silver lapel pin is a prized reminder of OMEGA\u2019s history in space exploration, and especially the major role it played in the \u201csuccessful failure\u201d of Apollo 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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