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Time in Space

written by A.Morgan - 27th Apr 2011

Space exploration is the pinnacle of mankind’s achievements. Discovering the undiscovered, knowing the unknown – the appetite to understand is what pushes the development of the human species. The rate of progression is staggering; it is hard to believe that it has been almost the same amount of time between now and the first space flight as it has been between the first space flight and the first flight. The realisation that it was less than a hundred years ago that electricity was introduced in domestic applications rams home the staggering technological development mankind has made.

The first manned space flight – Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1 in 1961 – heralded a turning point in history. The cold, relentless depths of space had been breached. Quite how little it had been breached by was not entirely clear at the time, and is only becoming clearer by the day with the deep-field space exploration programme, but it had been breached all the same. The Earth was suddenly an infinitesimal dot in a vast universe.

The space-race was a much-contested event, both Russia and America fighting to have their names etched in history, and the two governments did everything they could to stay one step ahead. The First Moscow Watch Factory was founded under orders from Stalin in 1930, which manufactured the ‘Sturmanskie’, or Navigator, watch. This was the watch the Yuri wore on the first manned space flight, and makes this little-known manufacturer the first to send a watch into space. The tie between space flight and time was just beginning.

Time is very important in space because all subliminal references disappear – for every day on Earth, astronauts on the International Space Station experience sixteen sunsets and sunrises. This means that having a fixed frame of reference becomes imperative; being able to keep track of time can be the difference between life and death, as the astronauts piloting Apollo 13 found out at Mission Elapsed Time 55 hours and 55 minutes, 199,990 miles away from Earth.

Astronaut Jack Swigert wearing his issue Omega Speedmaster

All it took was for the manufacturer of the oxygen tanks to forget to update the heater design for 65 volt operation, which overheated and melted the Teflon coating on the wires to the stirrer motor, which in turn caused an explosion when astronaut Jack Swigert undertook a stir of the oxygen tanks. Coupled with the failure of the quantity sensor in oxygen tank 2, the tank had to be stirred more frequently to gauge the problem. Cryogenic oxygen solidifies, so for an accurate reading it needs to be stirred to break it up. The standard protocol is to stir the tanks once every twenty four hours, but the damaged sensor meant five stirs had been undertaken already. The fifth was the breaking point. It is recognised that if the sensor hadn’t been faulty, the fifth stir would have been during the moon landing, and none of the astronauts would have been able to return to Earth alive.

Mission aborted and oxygen rapidly running out, the crew of Apollo 13 had to turn around and head back to Earth. The oxygen not only provided breathable air for the astronauts, it was also the fuel, power and water source. In order to return home, a calculated propulsion burst was needed, but every second of fuel burnt drained precious breathable air. With the on-board electronics deactivated to save oxygen, the timing equipment was offline, and radio contact kept to a minimum. It was down the standard issue Omega Speedmaster on the wrist of Commander Jim Lovell to time the burn of fuel that saved their lives.

Modern technology has in no way pushed the humble wristwatch into oblivion, both on Earth and in space. Omega’s X-33 is currently in service as the standard issue watch for NASA, but other companies are muscling in its dominance. Seiko’s Spring Drive Spacewalk has seen action on the wrist of video game designer and developer Richard Garriott, who became the sixth private ‘space tourist’ ever. He also intends to become the first private space explorer to conduct a spacewalk, and will wear his Seiko again for that. The lightweight high-intensity titanium Seiko was custom designed and built for Richard’s adventure, and featured an automatic winding system that was previously thought not to work in space. Two watches were created for Richard to take into space, one of which was auctioned in New York for $45,600 in 2009, much higher than the reserve price. Just one hundred special editions were made available for sale to the public, each one costing $28,000.

Long may it be possible for mankind to explore the unknown, and with space flight becoming accessible to private clients, it may not be long before holidays in space are the norm. It may sound far-fetched, but being that it was just over a century ago that man flew his first thirty-six metres, and less than twenty years later until the first passenger flight, things start to appear in perspective. We’ve had the first space flight and we’ve had the first passenger space flight, so get planning for that dream trip to Mars that will be coming soon to a travel agent near you – and now you’ll be sure to know which watch to take too.