Amelia Earhart's watch brought to International Space Station

Amelia Earhat's watch, which the famed aviator wore on two trans-Atlantic flights was brought aboard the International Space Station 82 years to the day after her first flight.
By Robert Z. Pearlman, CollectSPACE.com / June 18, 2010

The watch that aviatrix Amelia Earhart wore while making history on two trans-Atlantic flights was brought onboard the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, 82 years to the day after its historic first flight. The timepiece was among a few mementos — including a medal of honor — that flew to orbit with the outpost's three newest crewmembers.

Amelia Earhart's watch is now orbiting the Earth aboard the International Space Station. It was brought there 82 years to the day after her first historic trans-Atlantic flight.

Earhart's watch arrived at the station onboard the Russian Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft, which docked at the aft port of the Zvezda service module at 5:21 p.m. CDT as the two vehicles were, coincidentally, flying over the Atlantic.

The hatches between the two spacecraft were then opened at 7:52 p.m., allowing NASA astronaut Shannon Walker, who was entrusted with the watch, and her fellow crewmates U.S. astronaut Doug Wheelock and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin to join their three counterparts onboard the ISS to form the six-person Expedition 24 crew.

Walker's own arrival on the station made a bit of women's flight history of her own. Launched 47 years after the first woman entered space and joining the station's crew one day shy of the 27th anniversary of the first U.S. woman in space, Walker — who is the world's 55th female spaceflier — became part of the largest contingent of women serving on a long duration mission with Tracy Caldwell Dyson.

Time and time again

"Amelia crossed the Atlantic twice, once as a passenger and once as the pilot in command, flying solo, and she wore this watch both times," said Joan Kerwin, director of The Ninety-Nines, an international organization for women pilots.

Earhart became the first female trans-Atlantic passenger on June 17, 1928, departing Newfoundland and landing in Wales in the United Kingdom almost 21 hours later. Her historic solo flight began May 20, 1932 and touched down 15 hours later in Northern Ireland.

Before her disappearance in-flight on July 2, 1937, Earhart gifted the watch she wore on both trans-Atlantic trips to H. Gordon Selfridge Jr., who later gave it to Fay Gillis Wells, a charter member of The Ninety-Nines.

Kerwin, who acquired the timepiece from Wells at auction, presented it in October 2009 to Walker, a member of The Ninety-Nines, to fly to space.

"Amelia is such an icon with women in aviation and now with women in space. We are thrilled that Shannon is a Ninety-Nine and will be taking Amelia into space with her," Kerwin said last year.

Although the watch still runs, Walker won't use it to keep time but will keep it with her during the flight.

"I am very honored to take this watch," Walker said after accepting it from Kerwin, "because to me it represents the continuation of women in aviation and the field of aviation and how we continue to push boundaries and farther than ever before."

In addition to Earhart's watch, Walker selected a few other mementos to bring to the station, which relate to her being the first native Houstonian to fly in space. Houston, Texas hosts Johnson Space Center, where Mission Control and NASA's astronaut training facilities are based.