The Apollo 13 mission was launched on April 11, 1970, with the intention of being the third successful human landing on the moon. The crew, led by experienced astronaut James Lovell, carried an OMEGA Speedmaster Professional chronograph as a critical backup for all manned missions since 1965. The watch was described by NASA engineer James Ragan as a vital piece of equipment that the astronauts could rely on if they lost communication or their digital timers failed. However, just two days into the mission, an oxygen tank explosion crippled the Service Module, and the crew was forced to abandon the mission to the moon.

NASA directed the rescue strategy from Houston, which involved moving the crew into the Lunar Module. This was not designed to support so many people for an extended period, so to conserve energy, the crew shut down nearly all power, rendering their digital timers useless and leaving them in darkness and freezing conditions. Over the next several days, the Apollo 13 mission faced numerous challenges, and NASA worked tirelessly to overcome the increasingly volatile situation.

Ultimately, the crew needed to manually adjust the course of the craft to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere correctly. To achieve this, they required an exact 14-second burn of fuel, with no room for error. Using his OMEGA Speedmaster chronograph, Swigert timed the burn, while Lovell guided the craft using the Earth’s horizon as a reference point. Thanks to their efforts and the precise timekeeping of the watch, they successfully adjusted the course and returned safely to Earth on April 17, 1970, after 142 hours and 54 minutes.

In recognition of its contribution to the success of human space flight missions, OMEGA was awarded NASA’s “Silver Snoopy Award” on October 5, 1970. This award is a prized reminder of OMEGA’s significant role in the “successful failure” of the Apollo 13 mission and its history in space exploration.