The quiet astronaut who supported the historic moon landing in 1969 has passed away.
Michael Collins, the command module pilot on the Apollo 11 mission, which landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon, died Wednesday in Florida. He was 90.
The family announced Collins' death on his Twitter account, and it was reported by CBS News.
"We regret to share that our beloved father and grandfather passed away today, after a valiant battle with cancer," read the statement. "He spent his final days peacefully, with his family by his side. Mike always faced the challenges of life with grace and humility and faced this, his final challenge, in the same way."
https://twitter.com/AstroMCollins/status/1387438495040348168
Collins piloted the command module around the moon while Armstrong and Aldrin explored the lunar surface. While he did not get the prestige that walking on the moon brought, Collins was an equal member of the crew that flew the mission, which fulfilled a promise by President John F. Kennedy to send a man to the moon and back.
NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk hailed Collins as a "tireless promoter of space."
"As pilot of the Apollo 11 command module, some called him ‘the loneliest man in history’, while his colleagues walked on the moon for the first time, he helped our nation achieve a defining milestone. He also distinguished himself in the Gemini Program and as an Air Force pilot," said Jurczyk in a statement. "His signature accomplishments, his writings about his experiences, and his leadership of the National Air and Space Museum helped gain wide exposure for the work of all the men and women who have helped our nation push itself to greatness in aviation and space."
Born into a U.S. military family in Rome, Italy, Collins grew up on U.S. Army bases. When he became an adult, he chose to follow his father, brother, and other family members into the armed forces, graduating from West Point in 1952. He entered the U.S. Air Force and became first a fighter pilot, then a test pilot.
Collins was accepted to the astronaut corps in 1963. He was the backup pilot for the two-man Gemini 7 mission in 1966, then went to space on Gemini 10 in July of that year. When the three-man Apollo program began in 1967, Collins was originally assigned to the backup crew for Apollo 9 but was grounded due to a herniated disc. He was made part of the historic Apollo 11 crew, and once it was successful, Collins showed no interest in returning to the moon.
After leaving the astronaut corps, Collins briefly worked in the U.S. State Department. He then served as the first director of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, which opened in time for the Bicentennial in 1976. Collins completed the advanced management program at Harvard Business School and ran a consulting firm.
Collins is survived by his wife Pat and three children. Funeral arrangements were not immediately discussed.