People would pay a lot of money for a time in space. Perhaps commercial flights to the moon will one day become a routine thing. While mankind wait for commercial space flights, they have settled for a timepiece for now.
A Bulova Chronograph watch worn by astronaut David Scott during the 1971 moon mission was sold for $1.625 million at the RR Auction in Boston. After an intense bidding war, a Florida businessman secured the space-worn timepiece at the auction.
NASA astronauts were provided with an Omega Speedmaster watch during space missions. Scott wore one of the standard NASA watches during his first two lunar walk during the Apollo 15 mission. However, on his second lunar walk, the hesalite crystals on the NASA timepiece had loosened.
During this third moonwalk, he wore his own personal watch on his left wrist. Scott's Bulova Chronograph wrist watch is the only privately owned timepiece to be launched into space and worn on the moon's surface.
"Among the decisions I made, the monitoring and use of time was perhaps the most important. Time is of the essence during human lunar expeditions - and exploration time on the surface is limited by the oxygen and water (for cooling) we can carry in our backpacks," wrote Scott, a letter that came with the sale. He explained that the monitoring the precise time remaining was essential to their missions. Scott carried the Bulova Chronograph watch on the lunar surface as a backup to his standard issued NASA Omega watch.
The Apollo 15 mission was Scott's last lunar flight where the crew found the 4.5-million-year-old Genesis Rock, one of Apollo program's most famous rocks. In 2013, scientists found chemical water traces on the rock, which suggests that the moon's outer crust may have been wetter during its early years.
When it comes to astronaut artifacts, Scott's timepiece is the most expensive item sold by far. In 2001, Astronaut Charles Conrad's cuff checklist sold for $1.3 million. Scott expressed that he is planning to donate a portion of the profits to education of America's next batch of astronauts.
"We are extremely pleased with the results and honored to have been able to offer such an historically important timepiece - the only American-made watch that was worn on the surface of the Moon," said RR Auction's executive vice president Bobby Livingston.
