Zenith El Primero Stratos Spindrift (75.2060.4061/21.R573)

Press releaseAbove our heads - at an altitude of 400 km - floats an impressive mass of some 400 tonnes. This flying giant is not some lost asteroid, but the International Space Station (ISS), orbiting around the Earth. The laboratory is continually inhabited by a crew of six astronauts. In December 2010, a Swiss watch - the Zenith El Primero Striking 10TH - left the Earth on board a Russian Soyuz rocket, launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. This high-precision chronograph was taken into orbit in the Columbus module by a European astronaut as part of a European Space Agency program.Le Locle, December 2010. The International Space Station (ISS) is like a giant 400-tonne puzzle to which laboratory modules developed by the countries participating in the program are attached. When the structure is completed, sometime next year, the station will be 110 m long and will have around 15 pressurized modules. This space mammoth travels at the prodigious speed of 27,700 km/h, circling our planet in about an hour and a half. The station houses an international crew of six people who spend about six months on board.Europe and SpaceThe European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe's entryway into space. It has 18 member countries, including Switzerland. In December, the ESA sent one of its astronauts for a six-month mission on board the ISS. This engineer is responsible for receiving the second European supply vehicle, the Johannes Kepler ATV. He is also conducting an intensive program of scientific experiments, from monitoring radiation to studying sleep in space as part of research on insomnia treatment on Earth. The Largest Worldwide Peaceful Cooperation ProjectThe International Space Station is a remarkable scientific laboratory. The experiments conducted in space involve all the scientific disciplines. It is the largest peaceful cooperation program ever undertaken by mankind, a link between nations and mentalities. The initial goal was to promote peace and the peaceful use of space. Astronauts on board the ISS take advantage of the two unique characteristics of space: the almost total absence of gravity and the almost absolute vacuum outside. These two properties make it possible to use chemical and physical processes that do not exist on Earth. 196 people from 8 different countries have already spent time on board. 16 countries have joined forces and combined their capabilities in this ambitious precursory project, estimated to have cost $100 billion. Since its beginnings, Zenith has demonstrated its visionary pioneering spirit. It has always accompanied discoverers and explorers, guiding sailors and their expeditions - Zenith Marine chronographs were used to calculate the position of ships at sea - then assisting pilots and polar explorers. It was therefore natural for the brand to be a part of this new grand human adventure: the conquest of space. The high-precision chronograph - El Primero Striking 10TH - has taken off into space The high-precision chronograph, Zenith El Primero Striking 10TH, was brought on board the Soyuz rocket, which took it up to the space station. The El Primero Calibre was the first in the world to beat at 10 vibrations per second. It is the most sophisticated mass-produced mechanism and the one with the greatest precision. Launched in 2010, the Striking 10TH model represents a watchmaking advance of the highest importance. It makes tenths of a second visible, that is, each of the pulsations of this exceptional mechanism.Zenith - the pioneering spiritThe Zenith brand has always been a forerunner in unexplored areas. This ability to come up with new ideas, then - before anyone else - launch into new technical developments is one of the fascinating aspects of Zenith. Zenith watches have participated in some of the grandest human adventures: the explorer Roald Amundsen's discovery of the North and South Poles, Mahatma Gandhi's peaceful struggle for India's independence, the laying of the foundations of ecology by Prince Albert 1st of Monaco, Louis Bleriot's crossing of the English Channel, John F. Kennedy's political action and French doctor Jean-Louis etienne's solo balloon flight over the North Pole. And soon, very soon, a watch will participate in an attempt to be the first to cross the sound barrier in direct contact with the stratosphere, thereby proving its exceptional reliability. The other great challenge successfully taken on by Zenith has been its departure for the International Space Station.  The European Space Agency (ESA)The European Space Agency represents Europe's gateway into space. The agency's projects are designed to help us learn more about the Earth, its immediate space environment, the solar system and the universe, and to develop satellite technologies and services and to promote European industry. The ESA has 18 member countries: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, the UK, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. Canada, Hungary, Poland and Romania also participate in certain cooperation programs with the ESA.How many people work for the ESA?In 2010, the ESA had about 1900 permanent employees. These highly qualified personnel come from all member countries and include scientists, engineers, information technology specialists and administrative personnel.