[kimjmoon]

I don't know if this has been posted at any other time, but I was listening to a radio show the other day, (stand up with Pete Dominick) on Sirius XM, and he had an astronaut on. His name is Chris Hadfield and he has posted several youtube videos that are shown in schools about life aboard the ISS. Anyway, one of the videos is about how his watch wobbles around in zero gravity (he doesn't have it fitted very well for his wrist), and someone mentioned in the comments that it is an Omega X-33. I googled it and this link came up. Gen 1 and Gen 2 X-33 - I Already Have a Watch. Its an excellent article about the history and testing of this timepiece and I thought would be an excellent topic for our discussion.. Enjoy!

 

[hidden by leaves]

Yes Chris Hadfield is a Canadian pilot and astronaut. He was recently commander of the ISS. I went to his book signing the other day... He was wearing that same X-33 (I asked him about it and he said something like "yes, great watches... this one has logged hundreds of thousands of kilometers..." ; )

Cheers,
HBL

 

[sy4ce]

But does he take it swimming?

Just kidding.

Cheers,

Ben

 

[kimjmoon]

But does he take it swimming?

The funny thing about your comment, which doesn't have anything to do with what I'm going to say...is how many people on this board ask about wearing their Planet Ocean swimming in a pool, or wearing it during a shower.......Really? Or my favorite is can they wear it in the ocean..Its designed to be worn by underwater welders who have to live in an underwater bell for days at a time and surface slowly while using the helium escape valve. I think you can wear it at the water park with you children without issue:think: Now a speed master is different issue!

 

[fmracer]

Don't open the He valve underwater. It's for when you are in the decompression chamber to release the helium gas that has penetrated the o-rings while deep diving with helium mix gas (air).

 

[kimjmoon]

Don't open the He valve underwater. It's for when you are in the decompression chamber to release the helium gas that has penetrated the o-rings while deep diving with helium mix gas (air).

Yeah, I thought I said that. But since I repair PC's for a living, I doubt its gonna be a concern. LOL

 

[T. Wong]

Here is my X-33gen2, previously owned by a USA aviator. He later flew commercial jets. The back story is that he was active in triatholons and wore his X-33 swimming. It leaked and he sent it to Omega who had to replace the whole movement. He then traded it to a friend for a Seiko diver watch! haha! The 10m rating of the X-33s has been a negative for some guys. I think most SST members still wear the X-33s.......
Montage F14 X-33 dial caseback (2) by thianwong1, on Flickr
expedition 28 spacestation crew copy X-33 on wrists by thianwong1, on Flickr

 

[drjmills]

There are lots of info about the X-33 in space over on the "NASA and Space Topics" sub-forum.
Here's a shot of mine pre-flight: