Michael Collins (astronaut)

Michael Collins
Collins in 1969
Born	(1930-10-31)October 31, 1930 Rome, Italy
Died	April 28, 2021(2021-04-28) (aged 90) Naples, Florida, U.S.
Resting place	Arlington National Cemetery
Education	United States Military Academy (BS)
Awards	Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Flying Cross Legion of Merit Presidential Medal of Freedom Congressional Gold Medal NASA Distinguished Service Medal NASA Exceptional Service Medal
Spouse	Patricia Finnegan ​ ​ (m. 1957; died 2014)​
Children	3, including Kate
Relatives	James Lawton Collins (father) James Lawton Collins Jr. (brother) J. Lawton Collins (uncle)
Space career
NASA astronaut
Rank	Major General, USAF
Time in space	11d 2h 4m
Selection	NASA Group 3 (1963)
Total EVAs	2
Total EVA time	1h 28m
Missions	Gemini 10 Apollo 11
Mission insignia
12th Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs
In office January 6, 1970 – April 11, 1971
President	Richard Nixon
Preceded by	Dixon Donnelley
Succeeded by	Carol Laise
Military career
Years of service	1952–1970 (active) 1970–1982 (reserve)
Signature

Michael Collins (October 31, 1930 – April 28, 2021) was an American astronaut who flew the Apollo 11 command module Columbia around the Moon in 1969 while his crewmates, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, made the first crewed landing on the surface. He was also a test pilot and major general in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

Born in Rome, Italy, where his father was serving as the U.S. military attaché, Collins graduated in the Class of 1952 from the United States Military Academy. He followed his father, brother, uncle, and cousin into the military. He joined the United States Air Force, and flew F-86 Sabre fighters at Chambley-Bussières Air Base, France. He was accepted into the U.S. Air Force Experimental Flight Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in 1960, also graduating from the Aerospace Research Pilot School (Class III).

Selected as part of NASA's third group of 14 astronauts in 1963, Collins flew in space twice. His first spaceflight was on Gemini 10 in 1966, in which he and Command Pilot John Young performed orbital rendezvous with two spacecraft and undertook two extravehicular activities (EVAs, also known as spacewalks). On the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, he became one of 24 people to fly to the Moon, which he orbited thirty times. He was the fourth person (and third American) to perform a spacewalk, the first person to have performed more than one spacewalk, and, after Young, who flew the command module on Apollo 10, the second person to orbit the Moon alone.

After retiring from NASA in 1970, Collins took a job in the Department of State as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. A year later, he became the director of the National Air and Space Museum, and held this position until 1978, when he stepped down to become undersecretary of the Smithsonian Institution. In 1980, he took a job as vice president of LTV Aerospace. He resigned in 1985 to start his own consulting firm. Along with his Apollo 11 crewmates, Collins was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2011.