Michael Collins, ‘forgotten’ Apollo 11 astronaut, dies at the age of 90 US and Canadian News

American astronaut Michael Collins, who served as pilot of the Apollo 11 command module on July 20, 1969, traveled to the surface of the moon Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin the first humans he died on Wednesday to walk on the moon when he was 90, his family said.

A document released by his family stated that Collins died of cancer.

The third astronaut on the historic mission is said to have been “forgotten” until Collins was alone in the command module for more than 21 hours until his two astronauts returned to the moon module. He lost contact with mission control in Houston, Texas, every time the spacecraft circled the dark side of the moon.

“Since Adam doesn’t know loneliness like Mike Collins,” the mission record said, citing a biblical figure.

Collins wrote his experiences in his 1974 autobiography, Carrying the Fire, but largely refused publicity.

“I know I would be a liar or a fool if I said that I have the best of the three three-seater Apollo 11 seats, but I can honestly and unanimously say that I am completely happy with what I have,” Collins said. Comments released by NASA in 2009.

President Joe Biden said his prayers were made with the Collins family.

“From the vantage point above the earth, it reminded us of the fragility of our planet, and called us to cherish it like a treasure,” Biden said in a note. “Godspeed, Mike.”

Acting NASA administrator Steve Jurczyk said Wednesday that Collins is a “true pioneer.”

“NASA deplores the loss of this great pilot and astronaut, a friend of all who want to push the cover of human potential … His spirit will go with us as we move to distant horizons,” Jurczyk said in a statement.

Writing on Twitter, Aldrin paid tribute to Collins.

Dear Mike,
Wherever you have been or will be, you will always have to discreetly transport Fire to new heights and into the future. We will miss you. May you rest in peace. # Apollo11 pic.twitter.com/q4sJjFdvf8

– Dr. Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) April 28, 2021

‘The goal is calm’

Collins was born in Rome, Italy, on October 31, 1930, the same year that Armstrong and Aldrin died in 2012. He was the son of a U.S. Army general and, like his father, attended the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, graduating in 1952.

Like many of America’s first generations of astronauts, Collins began as an Air Force test pilot.

In 1963, NASA chose him for its astronaut program, still in its early days, but it rose rapidly to the height of the Cold War, pushing the United States before the Soviet Union and fulfilling its commitment to land President John F Kennedy. a man on the moon at the end of the decade.

Collins’ first space trip came in July 1966 as a Gemini X pilot as part of missions to prepare for NASA’s Apollo program. The Gemini X mission successfully docked with a vehicle with the same purpose.

His second and final space flight was the historic Apollo 11.

Collins avoided many of the media hype he greeted when astronauts returned to Earth and later became a frequent critic of the cult of the famous.

After a brief stint in government, Collins became director of the National Museum of Air and Space, leaving the post in 1978. He was also the author of several books related to space.

He said the strongest memory of Apollo 11 was looking at the Earth, which he found “fragile”.

“I really believe that if the world’s political leaders could see their planet from a distance of 100,000 miles (161,000 km), their view could fundamentally change. That important limit would be invisible, that noisy argument would be silenced,” he said.

He said in his family statement that he knew “he felt lucky in the life Mike did.”

“Please join our keen mind, calm sense of purpose and mind and joy in remembering his wise point of view, both from looking at the Earth from space and from seeing the calm waters from the back of his fishing boat.”