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   FIYTA SPACE WATCH - NOW IT'S MY TIME . . .
      GA8070.WBB (Spacemaster) -
read all about below

 

Sample pictures, description and price:

Since it is limited edition, the price we give you - will be a little higher than common watches.
The Export price in the states will be US$ 2795.00 ( January 3rd 2009 1pm )
(last bid price today - or more - collector item - send an e-mail (HERE) for your bid today).

There are only 12 watches left for sale to the public, please be hurry before there are gone . . .

(e-mail from the FIYTA company on Thu, December 19, 2008 - FIYTA.us@gmail.com )

 

  FIYTA SPACEMASTER Limited edition 699

Case Dimension/Material

45mm Stainless steel

Movement

Proprietary FIYTA manual winding chronograph. Movement design is approved by the China Astronaut Centre (ACC).

Power Reserve

45 hours

Glass Material

Anti-reflective sapphire glass with 95% transparency rate

Bezel

Uni direction titanium rotating 8 hour bezel

Luminescence

Super luminova

Luminescent display last for at least 4 hours

Strap

PU rubber strap with deployment buckle for comfort and easy strap on

Case back

Embossed case back with commemorative  spacewalk Taikonaut design

Special requirements designed for spacewalk

World first 45 min chronograph register

Requested by the CNSA, the blue and green indicators mark 30 min and 45 min respectively. Taikonauts are required to complete tasks in 30 min and 45 min intervals

AM/PM Indicator

included to help Taikonauts keep track of earth time in an environment when the sun sets 16 times a day

Anti-clockwise locking crown

Safety feature included to prevent any accidental crown release

8 hour rotating bezel

8 hour rotating bezel serves as a life support indicator for the Chinese Feitian EVA spacesuit

Technical achievements

Anti-magnetic

Time Deviation less the 30 seconds a day when exposed to magnetic field of 48000A/m

Shock resistance

500~3000Hz 500g

Anti-vibration

7.25g

 

   

 

China Launches Spacewalk Mission

European Press photo Agency

The three Chinese astronauts before the launching on Thursday. The Chinese government hopes the space program can help establish a space station and eventually put a person on the moon.

Published: September 25, 2008

SHANGHAI — The Chinese Shenzhou VII spacecraft blasted off at 9:07 p.m. Thursday, carrying three Chinese astronauts into space on this country’s third manned space mission in five years.

Skip to next paragraph

Color China Photo, via Associated Press

From left, the Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng, Liu Boming and Zhai Zhigang during a ceremony before the launch of the Shenzhou 7 spacecraft at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu province on Thursday.

The three-day mission is expected to include the country’s first attempt at a spacewalk.

The Chinese government has spent billions of dollars in recent years building up a space program that it hopes will help China establish a space station by 2020 and eventually will put a man on the moon, accomplishments that would certainly bring the country international prestige.

The launching of Shenzhou VII from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu Province, which is in western China, was shown live on state television.

At a ceremony before the launching, President Hu Jintao praised the space project’s effort. “You will definitely accomplish this glorious and sacred mission,” he told the astronauts before the launching. “The motherland and the people are looking forward to your triumphant return.”

China sent into space three experienced fighter pilots, all of them 42-year-old men. One is expected to walk in space for 30 minutes on Friday or Saturday, according to the state media.

The three Taikonauts — the Chinese term for astronauts — plan to run tests in space and launch a small satellite monitoring station. They are carrying traditional Chinese medicine on board, in case of sickness, and their diet includes shredded pork sautéed with garlic and grilled beef with spicy sauce.

One astronaut is wearing what the state-run news media has dubbed “the most complicated, advanced and expensive suit in the world,” a $4.4 million space suit designed and produced in China. The spacecraft was launched by what the Chinese space agency calls the Long March II-F carrier rocket, which took the spacecraft into a low orbit, about 210 miles above Earth. The mission, which is being covered extensively in the Chinese media, is another milestone for a country that got a late start in space exploration but is now aggressively launching commercial satellites, putting humans in space and even shooting down aging satellites.

“They have joined a very exclusive club; only the U.S. and Russians are members,” said Roger D. Launius, a senior curator and expert on space history at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, referring generally to China’s space program. “It’s a great start, even though it’s nowhere near what the Russians and the U.S. have accomplished with space flight.”

Russia and the United States conducted their first spacewalks in 1965, and in 1969 the United States became the first country to put a person on the moon.

But Michael D. Griffin, the administrator of NASA, has repeatedly warned that despite the head start by other nations, the Chinese program is moving swiftly and could overtake American efforts to return to the moon by 2020. In testimony to the Senate last year, Mr. Griffin said it was likely that “China will be able to put people on the Moon before we will be able to get back.” He added: “I admire what they have done, but I am concerned that it will leave the United States in its wake.”

The Chinese government also hopes the national space program will aid the nation economically by helping to create technological breakthroughs that may someday be applied to computers or other digital equipment.

India and Japan are now aggressively developing their own space programs, creating some competition in Asia for space flight, and the Europeans have joined forces to explore space.

But China says its space program is speeding along, often with Chinese technology, helping establish the country as a technological power and bringing another dose of pride to the nation after the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer.

Because spaceflight requires large booster rockets and other sophisticated technology that often has military applications, national space programs are often veiled in secrecy, and cooperation among nations is complicated.

Indeed, on Wednesday, the F.B.I. arrested a Chinese-born physicist in Newport News, Va., on charges of illegally exporting space launching technical data and services to China beginning in January 2003. The physicist, Shu Quan-Sheng, 68, was born in China but was a naturalized American citizen. He has a doctorate in physics.

Mr. Shu was also accused of offering bribes to Chinese government officials in exchange for a business contract, according to an F.B.I. statement.

John Schwartz contributed reporting from New York.

=============================================================

 

BBC London report:

 

Chinese astronaut walks in space

China astronaut's space walk

A Chinese astronaut has become the first in his country's history to take a walk in space.

In an operation broadcast live on national TV, fighter pilot Zhai Zhigang emerged from the capsule orbiting the Earth to wave a Chinese flag.

Mr Zhai, 42, stayed outside the capsule for 15 minutes while his two fellow astronauts stayed in the spacecraft.

The exercise is seen as key to China's ambition to build an orbiting station in the next few years.

Mr Zhai began the manoeuvre just after 1630 Beijing Time (0830 GMT) on Saturday, and completed it about 15 minutes later.

"I'm feeling quite well. I greet the Chinese people and the people of the world," he said as he climbed out of the Shenzhou VII capsule.

For China this mission is as much about national pride as anything else
 

 

His colleague, Liu Boming, also briefly got his head out of the capsule to hand him the flag.

Mr Zhai wore a Chinese-made spacesuit thought to have cost between £5m and £20m ($10m-$40m) for the space walk.

The "yuhangyuan" (astronaut) was tethered to the capsule with an umbilical cable.

Mr Zhai retrieved an externally mounted experiment.

The third yuhangyuan on the mission is Jing Haipeng.

Leap

The Shenzhou VII capsule soared into orbit on a Long March II-F rocket from Jiuquan spaceport in north-west China on 25 September.

Jiuquan (BBC)
1958: Base for spaceflights built at Jiuquan, in Gobi desert
April 1970: China launches its first satellite into space
1990-2002: Shenzhou I-IV are launched to develop systems
Oct 2003: The first manned space mission launches on Shenzhou V
 
Oct 2005: The Shenzhou VI mission takes two men into space
Oct 2007: Chang'e-1 orbiter sent on unmanned mission to the Moon

The rocket put the Shenzhou capsule in a near-circular orbit more than 300km above the Earth.

Earlier, Zhang Jianqi, one of the chief engineers for China's space program, said keeping three men in the spacecraft, and then sending one outside, would be a "big test".

"This is a big technological leap," he told state-run news agency Xinhua.

"The risks are quite high. Sending up three astronauts is a jump both in quantity and quality."

The ship is to release a 40kg (90lb) satellite which will circle the orbiter and beam back images to mission control.

At the end of the mission, the Shenzhou re-entry capsule will target a landing in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

China became only the third nation after the United States and Russia to independently put a man in space when Yang Liwei, another fighter pilot, went into orbit on the Shenzhou V mission in October 2003.

Two years later, Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng completed a five-day flight on Shenzhou VI.

According to the Associated Press news agency, Xinhua posted an article on its website prior to the lift-off that was written as if Shenzhou VII had already been launched into space.

China's Shenzhen VII rocket blasts off

The article reportedly carried a date of 27 September and came complete with a dialogue between the astronauts.

Chinese media report that this latest mission is the "most critical step" in the country's "three-step" space program.

These stages are: sending a human into orbit, docking spacecraft together to form a small laboratory and, ultimately, building a large space station.

The Shenzhou VIII and IX missions are expected to help set up a space laboratory complex in 2010.

China launched an unmanned Moon probe last year about one month after rival Japan blasted its own lunar orbiter into space.

SHENZHOU VII SPACECRAFT
Infographic
1. Forward orbital module - crew live and work in this section, which contains scientific equipment. In future missions, this module may remain in orbit as part of a Chinese space station
2. Re-entry capsule - contains seats for three crew members
3. Propulsion module - contains spacecraft's power unit and liquid fuel rocket system
4. Solar panels - spacecraft carries one pair of solar panels
5. Spacewalk - One yuhangyuan (astronaut) exits the orbital module on a tether. Another crew member stands just inside to assist in case of an emergency

========================================================================

China's first spacewalk succeeds

Zhai Zhigang dons Chinese-made suit and spends 15 minutes outside capsule launched from Gobi desert

Chinese astronaut Zhai Zhigang waves the national flag after exiting the Shenzhou VII spacecraft

Chinese astronaut Zhai Zhigang waves the national flag after exiting the Shenzhou VII spacecraft. Photograph: Reuters

Zhai Zhigang today become the first Chinese person to walk in space, marking the highlight of his country's third manned mission.

As he floated out of the orbiter module's hatch, Zhia declared: "Greetings to all the people of the nation and all the people of the world."

In live satellite television pictures broadcast in China and around the world, Zhai - the 41-year-old son of a snack seller chosen for the first "extra-vehicular activity" – waved a small Chinese flag, helped by colleague Liu Boming who also briefly popped his head out of the capsule.

Zhai returned inside the craft safely after about 15 minutes.

He wore a $4.4m Chinese-made suit weighing 120kg (265lb). Liu wore a Russian-made suit and acted as a back-up.

The maneuver is a step towards China's long-term goal of assembling a space laboratory and station.

The Shenzhou VII craft blasted off from a remote site in the Gobi desert in the north-west of the country on Thursday and is due to land tomorrow in Inner Mongolia.

China's Communist party leaders are reveling in the positive publicity the space mission has received, particularly after Beijing's successful Olympics.

"On this flight, Chinese people's footprints will be left in space for the first time," said a commentary by the official Xinhua news agency. "This will give the world yet something else to marvel about China in this extraordinary year of 2008."

Xinhua said the astronauts embarked on their walk after receiving a clean bill of health from doctors on the ground at mission control.

Zhai's suit has 10 layers and takes up to 15 hours to assemble and put on.

China's first manned spaceflight was in 2003. A second, two-manned flight followed in 2005. The only other countries that have launched people into space are Russia and the United States.

======================================================

The Sun wrote:

 

China Marks Olympics, Spacewalk for National Day

By ANITA CHANG, Associated Press | September 30, 2008

BEIJING China kicked off its National Day celebrations yesterday by highlighting its hosting of the Beijing Olympics and the country's first spacewalk, two hard-won successes in a tumultuous year marked by natural disasters, ethnic unrest, and another food safety scandal.

The spacewalk on Saturday boosted a wave of Chinese pride and patriotism stemming from the Olympics, which is still a big news story in the domestic press one month after it ended. China's Olympic heroes were honored in a three-hour ceremony at the Great Hall of the People that was broadcast live on national television.

State broadcaster CCTV showed the three returning astronauts, with flower garlands around their necks, waving and smiling as they were treated to a homecoming parade in Beijing. Their mission, including China's first spacewalk, put the country closer to building a space station and landing a man on the moon.

Meanwhile, Vice President Xi, who oversaw preparations for the Beijing Summer Games, praised what he said was China's realization of a 100-year dream to host the event and said it would keep China on its reform path.

"The successful holding of the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics has carried forward the Olympic spirit, improved the understanding and friendship between Chinese people and all people of the world," Mr. Xi said. "It has ... shown the world the great achievements of reform and opening and the building of socialist modernization."

But Premier Wen Jiabao touched briefly on some of the country's troubles so far this year during an address at a dinner banquet that included many foreign dignitaries.

"We prevailed over the disasters caused by the heavy snow and sleet storms and the devastating Wenchuan earthquake," he said, referring to a freak storm just before February's Lunar New Year that left scores dead and hundreds of thousands stranded during the country's busiest travel period.

A magnitude 7.9 earthquake in May left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing.

"We still face many difficulties and problems in our endeavor to advance socialist modernization but we have full confidence to overcome them," he said.

The 59th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China is tomorrow. This year also marks 30 years since China started the economic reforms that turned the country into the world's factory floor and transformed all of its major cities.

Economic development has been slower to reach far-flung regions like Tibet, where simmering ethnic tensions boiled over in March. Anti-government riots erupted in the capital of Lhasa, sparking sympathy protests in Tibetan areas across western China.

=======================================================

Chinese spacewalk mission enters orbit

CNN reports:

 

BEIJING, China (AP) -- China's three-man spacecraft shifted from an oval orbit to a more stable circular orbit 342 kilometers (213 miles) above Earth on Friday in preparation for the country's first attempt at a spacewalk.

Chinese astronaut Jing Haipeng talks to the command and control center in Shenzhou-7 on Friday.

Chinese astronaut Jing Haipeng talks to the command and control center in Shenzhou-7 on Friday.

The spacewalk is scheduled to take place at about Saturday afternoon, although the exact timing depends on the readiness of equipment and personnel, said Wang Zhaoyao, deputy director of China's manned space program office. The event will be broadcast live on television, he said.

"This is China's first attempt (at a spacewalk) so there are a lot of uncertainties," Wang said.

He said the three astronauts were assembling and testing their space suits in preparation for the spacewalk, which is to last about 20 minutes. Video Watch as China's spacecraft lifts off »

The Shenzhou 7 mission, China's third manned space voyage, blasted into space atop a Long March 2F rocket on Thursday.

The launch was broadcast live on state television in a display of China's growing confidence in its space program. Shortly before the feed ended, one of the crew reported that they were all well and had extended the craft's solar panels.

The launch dominated front pages of the entirely state-controlled media, largely supplanting coverage of China's continuing scandal involving contaminated milk.

The Communist Party's flagship newspaper People's Daily showed President Hu Jintao waving to the astronauts before the launch and congratulating staff at mission control after liftoff.

Such coverage underscores the weighty role of politics and patriotism in the space program, officially presented as an illustration of China's rising technological might and global influence.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the astronauts executed a 64-second engine burn to shift the spaceship from an oval-shaped orbit into a round one, meaning it was circling Earth at a constant distance.

The change in orbit ensures Earth's gravitational pull will not vary during the spacewalk attempt, and will allow for smooth operation of the ship's instruments, the agency said.

A round orbit will also help Shenzhou make a precise landing on the Inner Mongolian Steppe on Sunday after its re-entry vehicle bursts through Earth's atmosphere, Xinhua said.

The mission is devoted almost entirely to the execution of the spacewalk, a key step in mastering techniques for docking two orbiters to create China's first orbiting space station.

The two astronauts who will don space suits for the spacewalk will be supported by Russian experts throughout the mission. Only one will actually leave the orbiter module to retrieve scientific experiments placed outside, described by Xinhua as solid lubricant samples. They will then release an 88-pound satellite which will circle the orbiter and send back images.

Shenzhou 7 commander Zhai Zhigang is touted as most likely to carry out the spacewalk. All three astronauts are 42-year-old fighter pilots with more than 1,000 hours of flying time.

China's last manned mission, Shenzhou 6, came in 2005, two years after the country first put a person into orbit.

The chief designer of the Shenzhou spacecraft said Friday that China's space program would speed up production of the next generation of Shenzhou craft, indicating that the country's 16-year-old manned spaceflight program was gathering pace.

Zhang Bainan offered no numbers, but said the spacecraft would be used to transport astronauts and cargo to a future Chinese space station. Zhang said other countries might be offered space on the craft.

Ramped-up production of the three-module Shenzhou, based loosely on Russia's Soyuz capsule, also points to a need for more astronauts beyond the 14-member corps now trained.

To meet the demand, a new round of astronaut selection will be held using revised standards following completion of this year's mission, Chen Shanguang, director of the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, was quoted as saying by the Communist Party's China Youth Daily newspaper.

Officials are drafting specific criteria for female astronauts, although no schedule for recruitment has been set, China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei, now Chen's deputy, was quoted as saying.

"Many standards have already been set and there has been strong support from society as a whole," Yang said.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

All About Manned Space Flight China

All About China

==========================================================

China astronauts return to Earth triumphant

  • Story Highlights
  • Three Chinese astronauts return to Earth, completing three-day mission
     
  • On Saturday Zhai Zhigang completed his country's first-ever spacewalk
     
  • Zhigang waved small Chinese flag and later returned to spacecraft

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth Sunday, completing a three-day mission that included China's first-ever spacewalk.
 

The three Chinese astronauts salute after they get out of Shenzhou-7 re-entry module. Technicians help the three Chinese astronauts get out of re-entry module after their safe landing. Mission commander Zhai Zhigang waves Chinese flag after emerging from his spaceship. all copyrights belong to CNN.com
 
The three Chinese astronauts salute after they get out of Shenzhou-7 re-entry module.

The Shenzhou-7 re-entry capsule parachuted to a landing on the Inner Mongolia steppe at about 5:39 p.m. (0939 GMT) on Sunday.

A live television broadcast showed the three astronauts sitting in the module, with the hatch opened, re-adapting to gravity before crawling out about 45 minutes after the landing.

"It was a glorious mission, full of challenges with a successful end," astronaut Zhai Zhigang said on emerging, according to The Associated Press. "We feel proud of the motherland."

China's official news agency, Xinhua, quoted medical officials saying the astronauts were all in good health.

They each walked slowly just a few steps away and sat in chairs as the nation watched on television and applauded.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was among those gathered at mission control in Beijing.

The highlight of the mission came Saturday when Zhai emerged from the hatch of the Shenzhou-7 spaceship for a 13-minute excursion outside.

He first waved his hands to an external camera and later held a small Chinese flag, waving it in space.

The astronaut stayed close to the spacecraft, linked by tethers and always keeping one hand on railings. Video Watch as astronaut waves Chinese flag in space »

Zhai returned to the interior of his capsule and closed the hatch after about 13 minutes outside.

The three-man crew launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northern China's Inner Mongolia Thursday for a three-day mission, the highlight of which was Saturday's spacewalk.

The spacewalk paves the way for assembling a space station from two Shenzhou orbital modules, the next major goal of China's manned spaceflight program. Video Watch as China's spacecraft lifts off »

China became the third country to send people into space in 2003, when military pilot Yang Liwei circled the earth for 21 hours.

Its second mission -- in 2005 -- had two crew members and lasted five days.

The latest mission has dominated front pages of China's state-controlled media, knocking aside coverage of China's continuing scandal involving contaminated milk.

Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

All About Manned Space Flight China

All About China

===============================================

 

 

 

   


 

FIYTA Q&A

1.   What is the difference between the Spacemaster and normal watches? What are the specific technical requirements?

One of the key missions for the Shenzhou VII crew was to attempt China’s first space walk outside the space capsule. FIYTA was commissioned to make the time keeping equipment to accompany this historic space walk. For the astronaut to successfully complete this critical mission, the watch had to keep time reliably under extreme circumstances in outer space.

The watch engineers at FIYTA took more than three years to develop a watch that could function reliably in outer space. In a field where there is little existing information, FIYTA’s watch makers have to overcome many technical obstacles before coming up with the Spacemaster. The key differences between the Spacemaster and normal watches are as follows:

a)   Significance

Unlike normal watches, space watches, in this case, the Spacemaster, play a critical role in ensuring the safety of the astronaut as he carries out his mission in outer space. In an unknown environment, the astronaut can only rely on his watch to give him important information.

b)   Operating Environment

Outside of the controlled environment of the space capsule, the outer space environment is unpredictable and extreme. Our engineers have to take into account all factors that could impact on the smooth operation of the timepiece: the shock vibration, gravity, temperature, light glare, luminosity, magnetism, etc.

The Spacemaster can withstand a temperature range of -80 degree Celsius to +80 degree Celsius (a first in the world). This is the result of a specially formulated lubricant in the movement (invented by FIYTA) which allows the watch to continue working despite vast temperature changes.

The Spacemaster can also withstand 10 times the normal magnetic field than that of normal watches with a 48,000A/M capability. Magnetic fields are often the cause of unreliable time-keeping for mechanical watches.

The special case construction of the Spacemaster also allows the watch to endure high levels of shock and vibration, while protecting the movement within, and preventing breakage of the sapphire glass, through atmospheric changes during blast off and re-entry to earth.

To ensure easy readability of the watch dial, FIYTA has come up with a simple watch design with clear markers and indicators, high luminosity and anti glare sapphire glass.

To ensure that the astronauts can maneuver and use the watch even while wearing their bulky space suit, the watch has been designed with a large 54mm case (note: the watch has been downsized to a wearable 45mm case for the 699 limited edition), with big pushers and crown. To prevent any accidental unlocking of the crown which will compromise the watch in outer space, the unlocking mechanism is clockwise instead of anti-clockwise like most watches.

a)   Functions

Within the heart of the Spacemaster beats FIYTA’s own in-house manual winding chronograph movement, designed specifically for the space mission. It has a 45 hour power reserve. Based on the Shenzhou VII space mission requirements, the Spacemaster has a unique 45 minute cum 12 hour chronograph counters. On the 45 minute counter, luminescent blue and green markers at the 30 and 45 minute bars signal to the astronaut the end of specific mission activities.

To ensure that the astronauts can synchronize to Earth’s time in outer space, where they experience multiple sunrises and sunsets within a 24-hour cycle, an AM/PM function has also been added into the movement.

1.      What is the background of FIYTA’s long term collaboration with the China space program?

In 2000, the Astronaut Center of China (ACC) began looking in secret for manufacturers who could supply space related equipment, including time-keeping equipment, for the upcoming manned space missions. Without the knowledge of local watch manufacturers, ACC had selected a number of their watches to undergo specific tests, and only FIYTA’s military watches passed with flying colors. In the beginning of 2001, FIYTA was approached and then appointed by ACC to be the official watch supplier for the Chinese manned space missions. Thus began FIYTA’s journey into space watch manufacture.

In March 2003, FIYTA’s first space watch passed the various tests and requirements set by the ACC. On 16 October 2003, Shenzhou V, together with China’s first astronaut Yang Liwei wearing his specially made FIYTA timepiece, blasted off to space and made history. In October 2005, the next generation FIYTA space watch accompanied astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng on the successful Shenzhou VI mission.

Since 2005, the team at FIYTA started working on the prototype watch for the Shenzhou VII space walk mission, which would eventually become the Spacemaster

that was worn by Zhai Zhigang during his historic space walk on 27 September 2008, beamed live to millions of people worldwide.

1.   How does FIYTA’s space watches compare to other space watches on the international stage? What are the technological breakthroughs achieved by the Spacemaster?

The standards achieved by FIYTA’s space watches met or outperform existing space watches by other international watch manufacturers. For example, the Spacemaster set records in extreme temperature tolerance (working under conditions from -80 degree Celsius to +80 degree Celsius), through the use of a specially developed lubricant for the mechanism. Its anti-magnetic capabilities at 48,000 A/M, is 10 times that of international watch standards. The FIYTA movement, which was tailored specifically for the Shenzhou VII mission, has a variety of features and functions not seen in other space watches.

Being the first Chinese space watch to be worn outside the space craft, FIYTA watch makers took more than 3 years to come up with its first mechanical winding chronograph movement, which included special features required by the Astronaut Center of China. While there are a number of space watches in the market, space watches which have actually been worn outside the capsule remain few. To ensure that the Spacemaster could cope and function well in the harsh outer space environs, it had to survive a series of stress tests on the watch (shock, vibration, thermal vacuum, acceleration, etc.) set by the China National Homological Quality Supervision and Testing Center. The Spacemaster passed with flying colors. The Spacemaster is definitely a significant milestone in FIYTA’s impressive R&D record.

2.      How heavy is the Spacemaster compared to a normal wrist watch?

Because the Spacemaster has so many functions and requirements, it is twice as heavy as a normal wristwatch. To lighten the burden for the astronaut, FIYTA specially used a titanium case for the watch, which is not only light but resilient. 

3.      Has FIYTA made space watches for either the American or Russian astronauts?

Yang Liwei has actually presented the FIYTA Shenzhou 5 watch as a gift to a fellow Russian cosmonaut, who commented that China was the only country that used their own locally developed and made watches for use in their space missions.

 


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