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Author
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Topic: Apollo 14 moonwalkers' unusual mementos
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Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 01-31-2018 07:24 PM
   
Exactly 47 years ago, Apollo 14 left Earth to become the third Apollo mission to land on the Moon. Both moonwalkers took some unusual items, as Alan Shepard brought a golf stick and balls with him while Edgar Mitchell took two Rolex GMT master wristwatches on this mission.Any thoughts on the whereabouts of these "special" items? |
Larry McGlynn
Member Posts: 1255
From: Boston, MA
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 01-31-2018 07:48 PM
Well, the golf club is located at the USGA Museum in Far Hills, NJ. I helped with the appraisal on the club several years ago. The balls are still on the Moon. If he carried some Rolex watches, I don't know where the Rolex watches went. I never saw them at Edgar's home. Edgar never mentioned them to me either. If they existed, then he may have donated them for sale at the Noetic Institute. |
Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 02-01-2018 02:27 AM
Thanks Larry, check MoonwatchUniverse for February 2017 for more.Only 0.5 pounds per PPK/APK. The weight limit might have been the reason why Apollo 14 LMP Edgar Mitchell chose to strap two extra wristwatches on his wrist instead of putting these into his PPK? |
Larry McGlynn
Member Posts: 1255
From: Boston, MA
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 02-01-2018 08:10 AM
I have seen Edgar's PPK lists. The watches would not be on them, because he used these watches in flight. Edgar wasn't the only one to carry multiple watches to the moon. He wasn't even the only one to carry a Rolex to the moon. Without doing a serious study of watches carried to the moon, I would guess that Omega, Rolex and Bulova all made it to the moon. |
Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 02-01-2018 08:12 AM
In summary: Omega made it to the lunar surface on the wrist of 11 Apollo astronauts. Bulova and Rolex were lunar module flown. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 02-01-2018 08:22 AM
Dave Scott wore his Bulova watch out onto the lunar surface during the third Apollo 15 EVA, after his Omega Speedmaster was broken. |
Larry McGlynn
Member Posts: 1255
From: Boston, MA
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 02-01-2018 04:23 PM
That would be correct Robert. There is even photographic evidence of the Bulova being on Dave Scott's wrist while on the surface. I have held that watch and it was awful dusty. |
Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 02-03-2018 01:02 AM
Of course, that Bulova chronograph on its strap was auctioned in 2015 and made world news. I was thinking about the Bulova stopwatch used by Scott to time the 23 seconds DOI burn (Descent Orbit Insertion). |
Larry McGlynn
Member Posts: 1255
From: Boston, MA
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 02-03-2018 01:20 PM
Oh. Yes, that was in the LM. You can read about it in the Watches of Apollo blog. |
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