John Glenn's Heuer worn on Friendship 7

John Glenn, American astronaut and senator was credited as the fifth person to orbit the Earth and third American in space. Glenn, a former World War II fighter pilot and jet pilot in the Korean War wore a Heuer 2915A stopwatch as mission back-up timer during his Mercury Friendship 7 spacecraft flight in February 1962.

Credited as the first Swiss timer in space, the stopwatch was worn in a specially designed strap as this stopwatch is primarily a hand held device. I was under the the impression Heuer 2915A stopwatch was on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington as a tribute to Glenn's feat. However, I believe the Heuer 2915A worn by John Glenn is on display at San Diego's Air and Space museum. This really annoyed me as I missed the opportunity to view this when I was in San Diego in 2014 although I can't complain because I never visited the Smithsonian Institute when I was in Washington either - I will visit both on my next trip to the US.

The Mercury Friendship 7 spacecraft orbited the earth 3 times during his 4 hour and 56 minute mission with the city of Perth turning on their lights for Glenn's overpass. Dubbed by John as the city of lights, this remote capital city certainly got into the spirit of Glenn's achievement. I certainly have a high degree of respect for the pioneers of space, the danger these astronauts faces was real while they pushed the limits of endurance and technology.

Whilst the 2915A stopwatch was considered a back-up timer for the purposes of redundancy, one now views the then cutting edge technology with more than a little suspicion. How were they able to fly humans into space with the systems and vehicles they had? We now look back at Glenn's back-up mission timer with a little humour, this is how they went to space back then in the Mercury program - unbelievable.