Nasiel som jednu velmi zaujimavu komunikaciu na WUS, tak si dovolim pridat ju sem a dufam, ze anglictina nebude problemom, lebo je to vlemi zaujimave podla mna 
Jedna sa o vyjadrenie specialistu z muzea vesmirneho letectva z Washingtonu..
zdroj:
http://forums.watchuseek.com/f80/apollo-11-…zzs-987486.html
Adam,
Yes, this story is becoming legend at this point, really! And most of this can't be verified at all. To start, supposedly, Buzz Aldrin's watch was the only one, of the three, to go out onto the lunar surface during Apollo 11. He says the clock in the LM (Lunar Module / Eagle) broke and Neil Armstrong left his chronograph behind to serve as a replacement time piece inside the LM.
When astronauts returned to Earth, the chronographs went out for servicing in New York City. They would come back to JSC (Johnson Space Center - Houston, Texas) and some of the astronauts wore them as their every-day watches, leading to many of them to consider them THEIR watches.
At some point, Deke Slayton ordered all of them to be turned in because they were government property (we can verify that), and MOST of them were returned.
After Skylab, it was arranged for them to come to the National Air and Space Museum - though Armstrong's was already here as of 1973 (it had gotten mixed up with Michael Collins’). Collins conveyed that to us while he was Director of the National Air and Space Museum and eventually we got both of them here when the issue was sorted out in 1990.
Somehow, Aldrin's never made it back to NASA - he's said, I think, that he lost it or it got lost during shipment.
So where is it? Two people in particular have claimed they own it, but it's been pretty well proven not to be true (one by a federal court case). Sometimes people put one on eBay that they say is real, but NASA goes after them really fast.
My contact, who knows more about this issue than anyone, suspects it is out there, but probably in somebody's safe deposit box.
There is a HUGE black market for historic watches, as I've learned by working directly with Omega, the manufacturers.
Astronauts often took home souvenirs, and many of them got the chronographs back from us on loan (only one of those is still out there, but I'm working on that one). So I doubt it's completely gone, but it will depend on a few variables working out if we ever end up with it after all this time. One of those is the law passed in 2012 about astronauts keeping items NASA let them take home.
Small equipment was often not required to be returned to Earth, and astronauts would get permission to do it anyway. Those items became theirs, and the law as signed says they can keep those. I'm fairly confident that we can show that the chronographs WERE required to be returned and the law doesn't apply to them.
So feel free to forward this story to whoever. You can send them my contact information as well if they'd like to know more!
Cheers,
XXX
Museum Specialist
Department of Space History
National Air and Space Museum
Washington, D.C.
_____________________________
Hi XXX,
First, let me thank you for your time. It’s simply wonderful hearing these stories so close to the source. In the vintage Omega Speedmaster world, this is our greatest mystery!
From what I understand, yes, only Buzz’s watch made it to the lunar surface for the reason you state. Buzz, "being a watch guy", was keen on wearing his Speedmaster outside that day.
As you probably know, it’s a bit difficult to keep track of the Moon watches because the manufacture’s serial number is on the inside the watch and NASA's, logically, is engraved on the outside of the watch. Adding to the possibilities, it also seems that some watches were serviced/returned to the astronaut while others were renewed/replaced with a fresh watches from Omega.
Here’s what I’ve gathered other the years regarding the 3 Apollo XI watches. Please feel free to correct and/or add any information.
Neil Armstrong's
Produced: July ?, 1966
Delivered: August 12, 1966
Omega reference number: 105.012 or 145.012 ?
Omega serial number: 24,002,981
NASM cat number: 1973-1247-000
NASA serial number: 46
SEB number: SEB12100039-002
Buzz Aldrin's
Produced: October ?, 1968
Delivered: ?
Omega reference number: 145.012
Omega serial number: 26,549,XXX ?
NASM cat number: ?
NASA serial number: ? (43 may be his earlier Gemini watch ?)
SEB number: SEB12100039-002
Michael Collins'
Produced: November ?, 1968
Delivered: June 12, 1968
Omega reference number: 145.012
Omega serial number: 26,552,XXX ?
NASM cat number: 1990-0272-000
NASA serial number: 73
SEB number: SEB12100039-002
Again, thank you for helping piece this fascinating story together!
Kindest regards,
Adam
_____________________________
Adam,
My records do not include manufacture date, but the rest of what you have looks accurate.
All of the chronographs were serviced after flight by Norman Morris in New York, New York and then returned to property managers in the Flight Crew Support Division at NASA.
I do not know for certain that any were “replaced” during the process, but as that would create discrepancies in the Smithsonian collection, I certainly hope that was not the case.
These types of things are very collectible, so that makes them high security risks for us and anyone who borrows them from us. I’m sure you’ll understand the sensitivity with which I treat the collection.
I can assure you that we’re working on fully documenting and assessing the collection, even now, as this kind of information is so frequently requested from the public.
Cheers,
XXX
Museum Specialist
Department of Space History
National Air and Space Museum
Washington, D.C.