British watchmaker Bremont is sending a watch to the moon aboard Astrobotic’s FLIP rover, testing its durability in extreme lunar conditions
London: British watchmaker Bremont is sending a special watch to the moon’s surface this year. The watch will travel aboard a small rover called FLIP that is part of Astrobotic’s Griffin Mission One.
The watch sits in a vertical position between the rover’s front wheels. It has a black ceramic bezel and uses a special automatic movement that normally runs when worn on someone’s arm. The watch will stop running when its 62-hour power runs out during lunar nights.
FLIP weighs about 1,000 pounds and carries cameras and solar panels. The rover has special wheels made from silicone and metal that won’t break in the moon’s extreme cold of minus 200 degrees Celsius. The company designed these wheels to stop the rover from sinking into lunar dust.
The lunar night lasts two weeks. During this time, the rover hibernates but the watch continues its mission. When the rover moves again, the watch’s winding rotor should start working, though the moon’s weaker gravity means it may not work as well as on Earth.