On July 20th, 52 years ago, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were putting their boots down on the Moon. Eight years later, on the same day, NASA was achieving space transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo with its Space Shuttle program. What better way to mark the double-anniversary than with a unique space watch?
The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system that was in service from 1981 to 2011. While the program has come to an end a decade ago, the Space Shuttle Enterprise, the program's original prototype, remained housed at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York.
Together with the museum, Swiss luxury watchmaker Urwerk and Collective Horology have designed the UR100-V P.02, a timepiece that takes inspiration from the Space Shuttle Enterprise controls and design.
Launched on the 40th anniversary of NASA's Space Shuttle program and on the same day Apollo 11 was landing the first humans on the Moon 52 years ago, P.02 mirrors Enterprise's flight deck, including the gauges, colors, textures, and fabrics. It features the specific Urwerk satellite time display, which indicates hours and minutes.
The orbital display does not only tell the time but also traces key events of the shuttle launch and landing. The space shuttle program's launch and landing phases are displayed through apertures on the dial's upper left and right sides. They represent a journey into space followed by a re-entry trip back to Earth.
On its left side, there is a "launch" aperture where three different phases are displayed. The green symbolizes the shuttle on Earth before launch, while the blue indicates the solid boosters ignite to the main engines' shut down. Finally, the red signals the orbital altitude achieved.
On the right side, there are four phases marked with green, blue, red, and black. This time it's about the landing steps the shuttle took. Green means that the shuttle main landing gear touches down, and blue that the commander takes control for final descent. The last two signify the re-entry and the 60-minute landing time countdown.
Limited to 20 pieces and priced at $62,500 each, the P.02 timepieces are only available to existing and new Collective members and were created as a tribute to the experience of flying the Enterprise. According to Collective Horology, each sale will go to the Intrepid Museum.
Florina taught herself how to drive in a Daewoo Tico (a rebadged Suzuki Alto kei car) but her first "real car" was a VW Golf. When she’s not writing about cars, drones or aircraft, Florina likes to read anything related to space exploration and take pictures in the middle of nature. Full profile
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