As lockdown slowly eases and we carefully and responsibly transition back into normal life, we want you to remember that Blenheim London is here for you. Our online shop is still running smoothly so we can offer you high-quality products at affordable prices.

We have sale and giveaway information for you, our customers so read to the end for those details and a chance to win!

In this blog we will be looking at SpaceX and the most recent launch of their Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station. 

We will also be giving you some information about our clearance sale and information about how you could win a Pilot watch and a 1-slot watch roll, RRP £180.00.

SpaceX

At Blenheim, our motto is “Go Beyond” and with humanity's most modern technology, Space is as far beyond as human beings can reach. The brave men and women at NASA and SpaceX make this possible.

On Saturday 30^th May, SpaceX launched Crew Dragon to the International Space Station on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39-A at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are set to stay there for a few months to aid in the operation of the station.

This was a momentous and historic event. The first astronauts to be launched from US soil in over 9 years. It was also the first time that astronauts have been launched into orbit by a private organisation, a feat only before accomplished by nations.

From launch to docking at the space station took almost 19 hours. While en route to the station, the astronauts were allowed some time to pilot the spacecraft themselves, testing manoeuvrability and responsiveness to their control.

Now that they have docked, they will spend a few months operating the space station alongside the crew already there: American astronaut Christopher Cassidy, and Russian cosmonauts Ivan Vagner and Anatoly Ivanishin.

The Dragon Crew spacecraft was also being tested as a part of this endeavour to space. If the spacecraft passes NASA’s safety standards, it will become certified to start routine trips taking astronauts to and from the space station.

A Journey through Time and Space

Time is an infinite journey. We use watches to track time, but it moves on regardless of anything we attempt to do with it.

Time in space is an interesting phenomenon, and on the International Space Station, time is an essential tool. The ISS is set to GMT and all astronauts who are scheduled to go up must acclimatise to this time zone before they launch.

In the past, the time zone used for the ISS was GMT -5 to match the time in Texas because Houston, TX is where the main command centre for the ISS is located. However, scientists and engineers in Moscow, Russia also needed to operate the console from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm when the astronauts were working, so they agreed to use GMT.

It takes the ISS roughly 93 minutes to complete one orbit of the Earth, it completes 15.5 orbits every day, meaning the astronauts aboard the ISS can see a sunrise or sunset every 45 minutes.

In good conditions on clear nights, you might be able to see it soaring through the sky. Click here to see where the International Space Station is right now.

In an interview with Paolo Nespoli, an Italian astronaut who was aboard the space shuttle Discovery on mission STS-120, was recorded saying he wore 3 watches at a time. He had one set for Italy, one for the US and another for GMT. He also said they kept changing the times so he was still getting confused.

As a watch company inspired by Aviation, we offer our fullest support to those brave scientists and engineers who are serving the human race, ever pushing the boundaries of technology and allowing us to learn more about, space, time, and ourselves.

If, like Paolo Nespoli, you have many watches or watch straps, Blenheim Watches has a line of beautiful, suede-leather watch rolls just for you.

These compact and easily transportable watch rolls are perfect for storing your collection of watches and straps safely and conveniently.

Click here to browse our range of watch rolls. With rolls that can hold up to 6 watches or watch straps simultaneously, you will find something to suite your needs.

Sale and Giveaway

At Blenheim, we are passionate about our customer relationships, and we want to offer you new and exciting products. 

That is why we are doing a clearance sale for our Pilot line of watches, so we can pave the way to new and interesting watch designs in the future.

Use code: SPACEX for 50% off our Pilot watches in our store.

Click here to go to the store page and pick up your Pilot watch for half price.

We are also doing a giveaway of 1x Pilot watch and 1x 1-slot Watch Roll, RRP £180.00

Subscribe to our mailing list here for more information on how you could win.