Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins has died of cancer at the age of 90, NASA said in an obituary on April 28. Collins was part of the trio that made history on the moon on July 20, 1969, but unlike Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, he never walked on the moon.
The trio on the moon: Armstrong (left), Collins (center) and Aldrin.
Acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk reportedly said on 28 June, “The United States today lost a true pioneer and lifelong advocate of space exploration, astronaut Michael Collins. As an astronaut on the command module of ‘Apollo 11,’ he was known as ‘the loneliest man in history. He helped our nation achieve a decisive milestone when his colleagues walked on the moon for the first time.”
Collins was known as the “forgotten man” during the Apollo 11 moon landing because he hovered over the moon while Armstrong and Aldrin made “one small step for an individual, one giant leap for mankind.
Collins was alone for more than 21 hours before the two colleagues returned in the lunar module.
Collins was alone for more than 21 hours before two colleagues returned in the lunar module. Each time the spacecraft orbited the dark side of the moon, it lost contact with Mission Control in Houston for 48 minutes.
The mission log records, “No one since Adam has known such solitude as Mike Collins.”
Collins’ 1974 memoir, “With Fire,” also describes his thoughts as he hovered alone over the moon: “I was alone now, really alone, absolutely isolated from any known life.”
Each time the spacecraft circled the dark side of the moon, Collins lost contact with mission control in Houston for 48 minutes.
However, Collins’ mission was just as important – to make sure the moon team could dock with the Columbia command module for the return to Earth. If something had gone wrong, Aldrin and Armstrong would have been stranded on the lunar surface. This was a real fear, because Collins would return to Earth alone.
Collins was reportedly born in Rome, Italy, on Oct. 31, 1930, the same year as Armstrong and Aldrin.
Collins’ father was a major general in the U.S. Army. Like his father, Collins attended West Point, graduating in 1952 as an Air Force test pilot.
In 1963, Collins was accepted by NASA as the third group of astronauts, and in 1966, he flew on Gemini 10.
Collins was to have been an astronaut on the command module of Apollo 8, the first manned flight around the moon, but was unsuccessful due to a bone spur in his cervical spine.
After surgery, Collins eventually participated in the Apollo 11 lunar landing program.
As the module prepared for the lunar landing, Collins hovered alone over the moon.
In early 1970, Collins left NASA and briefly served as assistant secretary of state for public affairs and was the founding director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum.
In his memoirs, Collins wrote, “I’ve been places and done things you wouldn’t believe. I’ve hung from ropes a hundred miles up in the air, I’ve seen the Earth covered by the moon and enjoyed it. I’ve seen the true light of the sun unfiltered by the atmosphere of any planet. I have seen the ultimate blackness of infinity in the silence without any biological disturbance. I do have this secret, this precious thing that I will always carry with me.”
Shortly after news of Collins’ death emerged, Aldrin posted a tweet and a photo of the moon landing trio.
Shortly after news of Collins’ death emerged, Aldrin posted a tweet and a photo of the moon landing trio.
Aldrin wrote: “Dear Mike, wherever you were or will be, you will always carry the ‘firepower’ to take us skillfully to new heights and into the future. We will miss you and may you rest in peace.”
Aldrin is now the only living astronaut to have made the first moon landing.
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