While Omega’s contribution to the Apollo 11 Moon landing is well documented and justifiably celebrated, there was another timing instrument behind the scenes that many don’t know about. Recently, our editorial colleague at WatchTime Middle East, Nitin Nair, discovered the history behind the Heuer stopwatch used by a flight controller at Nasa?s Mission Control in Houston during the historic space flight.  
In the incredibly tense moments leading to Eagle (as Apollo 11?s Lunar Landing Module was known) touching down on the Moon?s surface, flight controller Bob Carlton had the unenviable task of tracking the landing craft?s fuel levels which were running dangerously low. The lunar module?s fuel tanks had a low-level sensor and once this sensor tripped, there was a limited amount of time left before the tanks emptied. Carlton’s stopwatch was a Heuer Ref. 332.401 with a split-second complication. The Heuer Ref. 332.401 stopwatch that helped save the moon landing. Credit: The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
It didn?t help that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin had to find an alternative site to land because the designated spot was not flat enough ? as it was filled with boulders the size of cars ? for a successful landing. The crew?s life and the success of the mission came down to how the fuel levels of the landing craft were managed, and Carlton was in the thick of it.
?I had a stopwatch that I started when the low level tripped,? Carlton states in a ...