All Astronauts
VETERANIn MemoriamNASA
VETERANIn MemoriamNASANASA·🇺🇸 United States·Born 1930
Michael Collins
Command Module Pilot of Apollo 11 who orbited the Moon alone while Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the surface.
266h
Hours in Space
2
Missions
2
EVAs
1.5h
EVA Time
I am alone now, truly alone, and absolutely isolated from any known life.
Exploration is not a choice, really, it's an imperative.
If I could use only one word to describe the Earth as seen from the moon, I would ignore both its size and color and search for a more elemental quality, that of fragility.
Inspirations
Charles Lindbergh
What they aspire to
He hoped humanity would push beyond the Moon to Mars and treat Earth as the fragile oasis it appeared to be from lunar orbit.
Biography
Command Module Pilot of Apollo 11 who orbited the Moon alone while Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the surface. Often called 'the loneliest man in history.'
Before NASAU.S. Air Force test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base who flew F-86 Sabres in West Germany before being selected as a NASA astronaut in 1963.
Notable Missions
Gemini 10Apollo 11
Beyond the Mission
Hobbies & Interests
fly fishingwatercolor paintinggardeningrunning
Causes They Champion
National Air and Space Museum (founding director)Space exploration advocacy
Languages
English
Awards & Honors
- Presidential Medal of Freedom
- Congressional Space Medal of Honor
- Congressional Gold Medal
- NASA Distinguished Service Medal
Authored
- Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys(1974)· Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Liftoff: The Story of America's Adventure in Space(1988)
- Mission to Mars(1990)
Fun fact
While orbiting alone behind the Moon during Apollo 11, he was the most isolated human in history — out of radio contact with both Earth and his crewmates on the surface.
More Astronauts
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