Michael Collins, ‘forgotten’ astronaut of Apollo 11, dies at 90

Collins believed if fractious politicians could see the planet from space, their outlooks would be changed.

American astronaut Michael Collins, who as pilot of the Apollo 11 command module stayed behind on July 20, 1969, while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin travelled to the lunar surface to become the first humans to walk on the moon, died on Wednesday at age 90, his family said. A statement released by his family said Collins died of cancer. Often described as the “forgotten” third astronaut on the historic mission, Collins remained alone in the command module for more than 21 hours until his two fellow astronauts returned in the lunar module. He lost contact with mission control in Houston, Texas each time the spacecraft circled the dark side of the moon.