Michael Collins: Apollo 11 Command Module Pilot Dies at 90

Michael Collins was an American astronaut who piloted the command module Columbia during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, orbiting the Moon alone while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made the first lunar landing. Born on October 31, 1930, in Rome, Italy, he graduated from West Point in 1952.

Collins was an Air Force test pilot before NASA selected him in 1963. In 1966 he flew on Gemini 10 and performed two spacewalks. During Apollo 11 he orbited the Moon 30 times and was out of radio contact with Earth each time he passed behind the far side. He later served as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs and as the first director of the National Air and Space Museum.

Collins received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969 and a Congressional Gold Medal in 2011. He married Patricia Finnegan in 1957, and they had three children, including actress Kate Collins. She died in 2014. He died of cancer in Naples, Florida, on April 28, 2021, at age 90, and his ashes were interred at Arlington National Cemetery in 2023.

Achievements: Gemini 10 spacewalks (1966), Apollo 11 command module pilot (1969), Presidential Medal of Freedom (1969), Congressional Gold Medal (2011).

Birth: October 31, 1930 - Rome, Italy.

Profession: Astronaut and test pilot.

Interesting Facts: He was the only member of the Apollo 11 crew who did not walk on the Moon. He wrote the acclaimed memoir Carrying the Fire.