1George Clooney poses by an Omega watch display in the spaceship-themed cocktail area.
2Yvonne Strahovski
3Yvonne Strahovski
4A view of the dining room
5A view of the dining room
6Joanna Garcia Swisher
7Joanna Garcia Swisher
8George Clooney
9Chester Pitts
10Chester Pitts
11George Clooney
12Astronauts Eugene Cernan and Tom Stafford
13The tablescape inside the dining room
14Space expert Ed Buckbee and astronaut Tom Stafford
15Astronauts Eugene Cernan and Tom Stafford
16Astronaut Eugene Cernan, Jan Nanna Cernan and President of Omega Stephen Urquhart
17Astronaut Jim Lovell and Marilyn Lovell
18Models in space costume line the entrance
19Space expert Ed Buckbee and astronaut Tom Stafford
20Astronaut Jim Lovell and Marilyn Lovell
21Astronaut Eugene Cernan, Jan Nanna Cernan and President of Omega Stephen Urquhart
22The entrance tunnel
23Models in space costume line the entrance
24The tablescape inside the dining room
25Omega's Jean-Claude Monachon and Raynald Aeschlimann
26Guests enter the shapeship-themed cocktail reception room
27Steve Wyatt and Joyce Echols
28Astronaut Eugene Cernan and Jan Nanna Cernan
29Javier and Lucinda Loya
30Becca Cason Thrash
31The entrance tunnel
32Steve Wyatt and Joyce Echols
33Guests enter the shapeship-themed cocktail reception room
34Javier and Lucinda Loya
35Astronaut Eugene Cernan and Jan Nanna Cernan
36Lynn Wyatt
37Omega president Stphen Urquhart and brand ambassador George Clooney
38An Omega display inside the cockatil reception room
39Lynn Wyatt
40The moon-themed reception/dining room
41George Clooney and Lily Koppel
42A server in space-themed attire
43Becca Cason Thrash
44Astronaut Wives Club writer Lily Koppel, actresses Yvonne Strahovski and Joanna Garcia, and executive producer Stephanie Savage
45Susie and Sanford Criner
46Susie and Sanford Criner
47Janet Gurwitch and Ron Franklin
48Cynthia Petrello, Mark Sullivan
49Michael and Melissa Mithoff
50President of Omega Stephen Urquhart and executive producer Stephanie Savage
51The moon-themed reception/dining room
52Rob Giardinelli, Carolyn Farb, and Lance Avery Morgan
53Astronaut Wives Club writer Lily Koppel, actresses Yvonne Strahovski and Joanna Garcia, and executive producer Stephanie Savage
54Omega's Jean-Claude Monachon and Raynald Aeschlimann
55An Omega display inside the cockatil reception room
56Yvonne Strahovski, Stephen Urquhart, Joanna Garcia Swisher
57Cynthia Petrello, Mark Sullivan
58Writers Tom Folsom and Lily Koppel
59President of Omega Stephen Urquhart and executive producer Stephanie Savage
60Janet Gurwitch and Ron Franklin
61A server in space-themed attire
62Omega president Stphen Urquhart and brand ambassador George Clooney
63Yvonne Strahovski, Stephen Urquhart, Joanna Garcia Swisher
64Michael and Melissa Mithoff
65Writers Tom Folsom and Lily Koppel
66George Clooney and Lily Koppel
67Rob Giardinelli, Carolyn Farb, and Lance Avery Morgan
68George Clooney poses by an Omega watch display in the spaceship-themed cocktail area.
It was an Omega Speedmaster watch that astronaut Jim Lovell and his crew used to time their 14-second turn on a disabled Apollo 13, manuevering the craft back into orbit for re-entry and turning a nearly catastrophic mission into what Lovell terms a “successful failure.”
On Tuesday night Omega celebrated the safe return of the astronauts on that fateful flight 45 years ago with a star-studded gala of the sort rarely seen in Houston, turning an airplace hangar in Sugar Land into a glittery, multi-sensory moonscape. Omega brand ambassador George Clooney made a grand entrance (space fog included) to fête astronauts Lovell, Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan, alongside Omega president Stpehen Urquhart, Astronaut Wives Club actresses Yvonne Strahovski and Joanna Garcia Swisher and the ne plus ultra of Houston society.
Images by Craig Barrett/Getty Images for Omega. Text by Sarah Rufca.
