![Former State Department Spokesperson and Apollo 11 Astronaut Mike Collins participates in a panel discussion hosted by the U.S. Diplomacy Center at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., on July 18, 2019. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](https://www.altonmo.com/content/uploads/2021/04/48323382356_eb273573ad_k-640x333.jpg)
Michael Collins was one of the three crewmen on the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. He died on Wednesday, April 29, 2021, at ninety.
Early Life
Michael Collins was born on October 31, 1930, to James and Virginia Collins. His family moved around to various states during his early lifetime. [1]
Military Life
Collins graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1952. After graduation, he joined the Air Force and became a fighter pilot and test pilot. [2]
Astronaut
Collins joined NASA in 1963 as part of the third group of astronauts selected. His first mission was on Gemini 10. During that mission, Collins and John Young practiced maneuvers necessary for a moon landing and performed a spacewalk. [3]
Apollo 11
In 1969, NASA announced the three astronauts going to the moon: Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong, and Buzz Aldrin. Michael Collins was the command module pilot, which meant he stayed in the Columbia (the command module) while Armstrong and Aldrin went down to the moon’s surface.
Director and Books
After Apollo 11, Collins retired. Soon after, he was the director of the National Air and Space Museum. [4] Collins also wrote an autobiography on himself.
Death
On Wednesday, April 29, 2021, Michael Collins died of cancer at the age of ninety. [5]
Notes:
- ^Fountain, N. (2021). Michael Collins obituary. the Guardian. Retrieved from (go back ↩)
- ^Gresko, J. (2021). Astronaut Michael Collins, Apollo 11 pilot, dead of cancer. Chron. Retrieved from (go back ↩)
- ^Zastrow, M. (2021). Michael Collins, Apollo 11 Command Module Pilot, Dies at 90. Discover Magazine. Retrieved from (go back ↩)
- ^Space community mourns the death of Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins. (2021, April 29). Retrieved from (go back ↩)
- ^Zastrow, M. (2021). Michael Collins, Apollo 11 Command Module Pilot, Dies at 90. Discover Magazine. Retrieved from (go back ↩)
