Astronaut Michael Collins of Apollo 11 mission passes away at 90

Michael Collins, the American astronaut who was one of the three crew members of Apollo 11, the first manned mission to the Moon in 1969, has passed away at the age of 90. He died on Wednesday after succumbing to fight with cancer.

On July 20th, 1969, he remained in the command module of Apollo 11 when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made history by being the first humans to walk on the lunar surface.

The family of Collins revealed the news of his death and issued a statement regarding the same, mentioning that “we also know how lucky Mike felt to have lived the life he did.”

Collins was often referred to as the ’forgotten astronaut’ due to the fact of him being not in the spotlight enough when compared to Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, who were shot in fame. He rejected the fame deliberately as he was known to hate the celebrity culture.

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The mission log of Apollo 11 famously said of Collins, “Not since Adam has any human known such solitude as Mike Collins,” which is a testament to his character.

He had remained isolated piloting the lunar module for over 21 hours before the other two astronauts returned from the moon surface. Every time the spacecraft passed the dark side of the moon, he remained completely cut off from mission control in Houston.

Often people forget his name as one of the three men of Apollo 11, when Collins was the most significant crew member. He was the only astronaut to have the capability to pilot the Apollo 11 alone and was responsible for bringing the entire crew back on Earth.

He had described Earth from the vantage of space as, "Tiny. Very shiny. Blue and white. Bright. Beautiful. Serene and fragile."

Collins had said, “I really believe that if the political leaders of the world could see their planet from a distance of 100,000 miles, their outlook could be fundamentally changed. That all-important border would be invisible, that noisy argument silenced,”

NASA released a statement on Michael Collins’ death, “NASA mourns the loss of this accomplished pilot and astronaut, a friend of all who seek to push the envelope of human potential. Whether his work was behind the scenes or on full view, his legacy will always be as one of the leaders who took America's first steps into the cosmos. And his spirit will go with us as we venture toward farther horizons.”