"Silver Snoopy Award" 50th Anniversary Speedmaster
Snoopy is the most recognizable member of the Peanuts gang. Peanuts was a comic strip, first published in 1950, illustrated by Charles Shulz.
Snoopy led a rich fantasy life, engaging in an ongoing aerial feud as World War 1 Flying Ace against the Red Barron and imagining himself as jazz saxophonist Joe Cool.
By the 1960s, Peanuts had become a cultural phenomenon, and Charles Shulz had begun drawing Snoopy on the moon. These little comic strips captured the public excitement about the future of space exploration.
The Speedmaster "Silver Snoopy Award" Moonwatch photographed with illustrations from Charles Shulz.
It was in 1968 that Snoopy was adopted by NASA as a loveable "watchdog" for its safety programme. Snoopy represented total mission success, while also keeping things light in serious situations.
In May 1969, Apollo 10 astronauts travelled to the Moon for a final checkout before lunar landings on later missions. Because the mission required the lunar module to skim the Moon’s surface to within 50,000 feet and “snoop around” scouting the Apollo 11 landing site, the crew named the lunar module Snoopy. The command module was named Charlie Brown.
Apollo 10 Commander, Thomas P. Stafford, giving Snoopy a pat for good luck.
As a way to acknowledge the work of technicians, suppliers, support staff and contractors, NASA came up with the idea of the Silver Snoopy Award. The Silver Snoopy Award is awarded by the Astronauts, "In Appreciation for professionalism, dedication, and outstanding support that greatly enhanced space flight safety and mission success."
But it was the Apollo 13 mission, in 1970, which best represents OMEGA’s critical precision and the “safety” that Snoopy was entrusted with.
THE SPEEDMASTER "SILVER SNOOPY AWARD" MOONWATCH PHOTOGRAPHED WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM CHARLES SHULZ.
When an oxygen tank exploded on board, just two days after launch, the crew was quickly moved 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 astronauts shut down nearly all power – rendering their digital timers obsolete.
To correct the trajectory of the Lunar Module for re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, the Astronauts needed to complete an exact 14-second burn of the engines. If this was not timed with absolute precision, re-entry would be unsuccessful and there would have been no chance of the recovering the Lunar Module.
This 14-second burn was timed on the OMEGA Speedmaster and was so precise that the Lunar Module splashed into the Atlantic only a few miles from the predicted rescue point.
Thomas P. Stafford, Commander of the Apollo 10, presented OMEGA with the Silver Snoopy Award on Monday, October 5th 1970 in recognition for the role OMEGA played in getting the crew of the Apollo 13 home safely.
The Silver Snoopy Award presented to Omega by Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise, the Apollo 13 crew.
Exactly 50 years later, a special timepiece has been created in the occasion’s honour. Combining animation with watchmaking art, this incredible Snoopy tribute has taken the OMEGA Speedmaster to new realms of design.
Hardy Brothers are excited to offer the "Silver Snoopy Award" 50th Anniversary Speedmaster to our clients.
To enquire about availability, please contact your closest Hardy Brothers Boutique.
Learn more at https://www.omegawatches.com/