ore than fifty years after Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon, space continues to fascinate millions of people, stimulating our need to discover the unknown, to explore the universe and its countless mysteries.

At the heart of these fantasies, whose only limit is our imagination, NASA symbolizes more than any other organization this thirst to explore the infinite. And while the missions it organizes stimulate passions and nourish emotions, it is above all research and science that are nourished by these discoveries and the extraordinary technical and technological resources deployed for these purposes.

The new Awake Mission to Earth “Meatball” was conceived as a tribute to the famous organization dedicated to space exploration, and to the men and women who have taken up the challenge of the greatest adventure of the 20th and 21st centuries. This limited edition of 250 pieces features NASA’s famous eponymous logo, the first one to set foot on the moon on July 21, 1969, during the Apollo 11 mission. A heritage present in every detail of this historic version, which inevitably takes us back to our childhood dreams.

The dial is a tribute to space exploration with the minutes track referring to the tracks left by robots (rovers) on the stars they explore, the hour and minute hands inspired by the characteristic oblong shape of rocket or the applied hour-markers with polished-brushed finishes inspired by the portholes of the “Cupola”, the panoramic observation window on the International Space Station. The aluminum inner bezel is engraved with the legendary countdown before each rocket launch.

The timepiece, equipped with an automatic calibre, features a sapphire crystal with integrated NFC technology. By simply touching their smartphone to the glass of their watch, owners can access all the experiences developed as part of the Mission to Earth:

• The Awake Observatory project: exclusive content broadcast by NASA using cameras on board the ISS international space station. A unique experience designed to recreate the emotional shock felt by the astronauts themselves. NFC technology is used here as a tool to awaken awareness of the beauty and mysteries of the world around us.
• Eyes on Asteroids: a unique immersive experience to learn all about the asteroids that populate our galaxy, including their names, sizes, shapes and compositions, past trajectories and future destinations.

Lightweight, robust and comfortable to wear, the case is made from 70% recycled titanium, mainly used in aeronautics and aerospace, with the same performance as virgin materials. The case middle is subtly engraved with the Meatball, to which this edition pays tribute.

The timepiece is equipped with a light, resistant 20mm white strap, designed in two parts, tone-on-tone topstitching and a velcro fastening system, a popular feature with astronauts. Colour, material, Meatball logo and “Stars and Stripes” are all references to the suits used by our heroes on their spacewalks.

A limited edition of 250 watches delivered in a collector’s box and priced at 850 euros, the Awake Mission to Earth “Meatball” is accompanied by an authentic, certified meteorite fragment from the asteroid Vesta, which is over a billion years old. On 27th June 1931, it collided with Earth in the Tataouine desert in Tunisia. At the moment of impact, the meteorite reached over 1000 degrees which radically altered its density, resulting in a unique crystallisation that is otherwise impossible to recreate on Earth.