Ed White Elite Astronaut first American to walk in Space.
Ed’s father was an expert pilot himself, so White was born to fly.
He started flying at 12 yrs old under his father’s guidance and discovered a natural ability. He learned to fly Sabre jet fighters in Germany, until 1957 when the world of flight changed.
The Space Age began. The opportunity for pilots to become astronauts began. On June 3rd 1965 he became the first American Astronaut to walk in space outside the capsule on the Gemini IV Programme.
On January 27th 1967 Ed White (pictured on the left ) died with two other astronauts on the launch pad in a craft beset with problems. Fire ripped through the pure oxygen capsule, with flawed safety equipment hampering their rescue.
On the spacewalk he was wearing an Omega Ed White Speedster watch.
NASA contacted watchmakers and only four responded. Omega, Longines, Rolex, and Hamilton. The watches were trial tested including extreme high and low temperatures, pressure, humidity, shocks, and decompression.
Only the Omega Speedmaster survived the tests.
So a watch legend was born on the back of space flight and death.
Ed White Speedy
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