Watches I own or have owned...

...the latches did not disengage and the hatch remained firmly closed.

Fortunately, McDivitt had experienced a similar hatch problem during some ground testing and the crew took the brave decision to disengage the latches manually – they could not have been certain that they would be able to get the capsule hatch closed again after the EVA and re-entry would not be possible without a fully latched hatch.

Finally, on 3^rd June 1965 at 1943GMT Ed White thrust himself forward and out of the hatch...



Edward H White II during first NASA EVA (Photo(s) Flickr NASA)


The Spacewalk did not go off without a hitch. Communication problems with a new VOX voice activated microphone switch meant that down in Mission Control Gus Grissom could not contact the Gemini crew – he tried forty times in thirteen minutes before full communication was successfully regained. Whilst outside of the capsule, Ed White could only communicate with McDivitt and messages from the ground had be relayed. By the time McDivitt finally switched to PTT from the u/s VOX mike activation, Mission Control were anxious that White returned to the capsule before the spacecraft entered darkness and lost contact with the Bermuda tracking station...

McDivitt, to White: I'm going out to PUSH-TO-TALK and see what the Flight Director has got to say.

Flight Director Chris Kraft, to Grissom: The flight director says, get back in! (Kraft was not on the air-to-ground loop with the astronauts.)

McDivitt: Gus, this is Jim. Got any message for us?

Grissom: Gemini 4, get back in!

McDivitt: Okay. ... (to White): ... They want you to come back in now.

Despite some further stalling tactics from Ed White, he eventually relented and re-entered the capsule some 22 minutes after leaving. His final words before clambering back through the hatch were:

I’m coming back in... and it’s the saddest moment of my life!

The watch Ed White was wearing during the historic spacewalk? The Omega Speedmaster 105.003... thus becoming the first wristwatch ever worn outside of a spacesuit in the environs of space.








Rumour has it that it was only after seeing photographs on the cover of ‘Life’ magazine of Ed White wearing his Speedmaster that Omega realised that it was being used by NASA – and this directly lead to the Speedmasters subsequent ‘Professional’ moniker added to the dial and remaining to this day. (Although there are, (apparently) order forms to Omega from the Gemini Programme procurement office dated 1964 that would suggest Omega were well aware of the watches mission role!)






It is a fact that the Ed White spacewalk images were heavily utilised by the Omega marketing department for many years afterwards...

(It is also rumoured that Ed White was also wearing another watch during the EVA, a Bulova Accutron similar to that worn by Cooper back during MA-9, although I have spent some time searching there are very few references to back up this theory on the net – and it is the Omega that took the ultimate glory.)


Edward H White II during his 22 minute EVA, wearing his Speedmaster 105.003 (Photo: WUS)

Despite the hatch proving to be as difficult to close and latch as it was to open, James McDivitt once again managed to release the stubborn spring and get it closed correctly – we can only imagine what may have been going through the back of not only the crews minds during this time, but also all those at Mission Control!

The trials and tribulations for the Gemini IV crew did end there, a computer failure, (to be embarrassment of IBM who had just run a large advertising campaign around the fact their computers were controlling the spacecraft) prevented the standard automatic re-entry procedure being used and the crew had to fall back on old mercury Project method – but Gemini IV successfully re-entered earth’s atmosphere following a manual procedure, on 7^th June 1965. Total mission time: 4days 1hour 56mins 12secs.

James McDivitt and, in particular, Edward H White II returned to a hero’s welcome.


Edward H White II (left) and James McDivitt speak to President Johnson after a successful splashdown (Photo Flickr)


Afterwards...

After his return, Ed White was assigned to the back up crew of Gemini VII and then as ‘Astronaut Specialist’ for the design of the Apollo Command / Service Module flight control systems.

In March 1966 he was assigned to the crew of the first manned Apollo mission, Apollo I along with Virgil ‘Gus’ Grissom and first time astronaut Roger Chaffee, scheduled for launch on 21^st February 1967...

Tragically, during a full launch rehearsal on the 27^th January, a fire broke out in the highly pressurised 100% Oxygen environment of the crew compartment and all three astronauts were killed by asphyxiation and smoke inhalation. Ed Whites task during an emergency situation was to open the hatch to allow escape – his body was found reaching forward toward the hatch release, an impossible task due to the speed the fire spread and design flaws in the hatch opening procedures and cabin pressurisation. He was wearing his Speedmaster 105.003 at the time of his death.

He was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honour and buried with full military honours in the cemetery at West Point, Arlington.

His Speedmaster was presented to his wife, Patricia who passed the watch down to his son Edward H White III, as recorded in a 1999 letter by Ed White III that can be seen on Chuck Maddox’s website, along with a photo of the actual watch, (see link below). Possibly this letter was prepared as provenance for sale, as the watch was sold at auction in 1999 for $35,500...


The original Ed White Speedmaster auction description (Photo Chuck Maddox)

Nothing else had been heard about it since...

So, in my humble opinion, calling this the ‘Ed White’ Speedmaster is a fitting and worthy way of remembering a dedicated pioneer of space exploration, the nickname for a true tool watch – the Omega Speedmaster ST 105.003.

I am sure that I will at some point be posting up a more detailed review of the watch itself, but I hope the potted history of the model and how it became known as it is, has been of interest.

Cheers,

Rob


Sources and references:

http://www.chronomaddox.com/35th.html
http://chuckmaddoxwatch.blogspot.co....ed-whites.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_missions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega_Speedmaster
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Higgins_White
http://forums.watchuseek.com/f45/ome...-nasa-132.html
http://www.omegawatches.com/spirit/p...master-history