Loneliest Man Ever had no choice, he just had to explore
In the week of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s moon landing I’ve enjoyed many newspaper articles and TV programmes recording the event.
Most tell a great deal about the two astronauts who actually walked on the lunar surface, but there has been very little detail of the third man, Michael Collins, who was the Command Module pilot. – T.
With the eyes of the world on Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin as they walked on the moon, no one took much notice of Collins orbiting in the Command Module above.
At times, he was often more than 2,000 miles away from the nearest humans – Armstrong and Aldrin – from earning him the nickname of “The Loneliest Man Ever”.
He later said he was too busy on his 30 orbits to notice being lonely.
And it’s doubtful if the likeable Collins has ever been lonely as he packed a great deal into his life.
Born in 1930 in Rome, he followed his father, two uncles, brother and cousin into the armed services, joining the US Air Force in 1952.
He joined NASA in 1963 and, in 1966, made his first spaceflight. He was pilot on the Gemini 10 mission, where he performed two spacewalks.
His second flight was the historic Apollo 11 mission.
He left NASA just six months later to become Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs then was director of the US Air and Space Museum.
Now 88, he once said of space exploration: “It’s human nature to stretch, to go, to see, to understand. Exploration is not a choice, really; it’s an imperative.”