Or a Casio. Or maybe even a Citizen. Have any Citizen watches been to space? I don't know.
Anyway. Happened across this video of astronaut Don Pettit making a repair to his Omega Speedmaster Professional X-33 while aboard the International Space Station. Not only did the crown break, but one of the buttons actually detached from the watch and was found later in a filter.
Now the video is a demonstration of Don Pettit repairing his watch under zero gravity conditions with a random assortment of tools. I think I can hear the Omega fan bois already posturing with the, "Fuck yeah! Omega X-33 is so cool you can fix it in outerspace with duct tape and a Leatherman!". However, I may be in the minority which thinks that this the watch should not have broken in the first place and it is not a very impressive demonstration by a watch designed for use in space. Floating debris actually poses a significant risk for critical damage of space station equipment.
Don't get me wrong. I think the X-33 is a cool watch. But if I had one and happened to be going to space, I think I'd leave it on terra firma and bring something more reliable instead.
Kudos to Dan Pettit.
Omega Fail.
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