The astronaut who was the command pilot of Apollo 11 in the first crewed mission to the Moon has died at the age of 90.
The family of Michael Collins released a statement announcing his death after a "valient battle with cancer".
In a statement they said: "We will miss him terrible. Yet we also know how lucky Mike felt to have lived the life he did.
"Please join us fondly in remembering his sharp wit, his quiet sense of purpose, and his wise perspective, gained both from looking back from Earth from the vantage of space and gazing across calm waters from the deck of his fishing boat."
Family Statement on Passing of Astronaut Michael Collins pic.twitter.com/6OAw7CzFaz
— Michael Collins (@AstroMCollins) April 28, 2021
Nasa described Collins as "an advocate for exploration" adding: "We mourn the passing of Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins, who piloted humanity’s first voyage to the surface of another world.
"An advocate for exploration @AstroMCollins inspired generations and his legacy propels us further into the cosmos."
Neil gained another crew member today
A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, Collins transferred to the air force, becoming a test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base in California. He joined the space program in 1963.
On July 16, 1969, Collins was launched to the Moon in the Apollo 11 mission with commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Edwin Aldrin.
Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the Moon in the lunar module Eagle on July 20 while Collins remained in the command module Columbia, circling the Moon at an altitude of 97–121 km (60–75 miles).
The Armstrong Air & Space Museum is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of #Apollo11 astronaut Michael Collins. We take comfort in knowing that Neil Armstrong now has another crew member and friend in the exploration of this final frontier.
— Armstrong Air & Space Museum (@ArmstrongSpace) April 28, 2021
Ad Astra 💫Michael pic.twitter.com/oBLCqFAGQg
On July 21 Armstrong and Aldrin rejoined him, and the following day the astronauts left lunar orbit. They splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24.
During his day flying solo around the Moon, Collins said he had never felt lonely, although it has been said that "not since Adam has any human known such solitude",
In his autobiography he wrote "this venture has been structured for three men, and I consider my third to be as necessary as either of the other two".
In the 48 minutes of each orbit when he was out of radio contact with the Earth while Columbia passed round the far side of the Moon, the feeling he reported was not fear or loneliness, but rather "awareness, anticipation, satisfaction, confidence, almost exultation".
Neil Armstrong died on August 25 2012, while Buzz Aldrin is aged 90 and living in Florida.
The Armstrong Air & Space Museum tweeted its condolences saying, "Neil gained another crew member today".
Collins was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2011.
American actor Ryan Gosling took the lead role of Neil Armstrong in the 2018 movie First Man, which follows the years leading up to the Apollo 11 mission. Steven Spielberg served as an executive producer for the film.
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