The '1969 Lunar' watch was launched towards space from the foot of the Atomium in Brussels, on the 50th anniversary of mankind's first step on the Moon.
An authentic piece of a lunar meteorite is set in the dial at 12 o'clock and the moon's surface is drawn on the watch, displaying the latitude and longitude of the six Apollo missions. The famous footprint of the first step of American astronaut Neil Armstrong is engraved on the back of the watch, that was created by the commemorative watch company Col&MacArthur.
To celebrate the anniversary, the Euro Space Center offered the public an activity simulating the absence of gravity, and the Royal Observatory of Belgium installed a small planetarium to observe space.
"The watches will go up with a stratospheric balloon to an altitude of 35 km," said Sébastien Colen, the founder of Col&MacArthur, adding that that is almost five times higher than the conventional height of an aeroplane.
"The balloon will then explode and the cargo, attached to a parachute, will fall back to earth in the vicinity of Spa. In the nacelle (a housing that holds equipment on an aircraft, separated from the main body), there are not only watches but also temperature, pressure, speed and positioning sensors," he added.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times