Michael Collins (astronaut)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Collins
Michael Collins
Country: United StatesUnited States United States
Organization: National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA NASA
selected on October 17, 1963
(3rd NASA Group)
Calls: 2 space flights
Start of the
first space flight: 		July 18, 1966
Landing of the
last space flight: 		July 24, 1969
Time in space: 11d 2h 4min
EVA inserts: 2
Total EVA duration: 38 min
retired on January 1970
Space flights

Michael Collins (born October 31, 1930 in Rome , Italy , † April 28, 2021 in Naples , Florida ) was an American astronaut . He was a pilot of the Apollo 11 command module and orbited the moon in it , while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first to step on the moon's surface.

Life

Michael Collins was born in Rome, where his father, Army Officer James Lawton Collins , was a military attaché . He attended the Saint Albans School in Washington, DC and then studied at the Military Academy at West Point , which he left in 1952 with a Bachelor of Science degree .

Collins decided to join the United States Air Force . After his pilot training , he flew jet fighters at various bases of the US Air Force, including from 1954 to 1957 in France . Back in the USA he worked as an instructor and from 1960 as a test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base in California .

First experiences with space

Collins had for the second astronaut group of NASA advertised, but was not accepted. In the next round he took part again and was successful this time. Collins was one of 14 astronauts who were unveiled to the public on October 18, 1963.

In February 1965 he took over the specialty " spacesuits and external space activities ". He was also involved in the selection of the companies that made the spacesuits for NASA. In July 1965 he was assigned as a replacement pilot for the long-term flight of Gemini 7 in December. Collins was the first astronaut of the third group to be nominated for a space flight, but he was not used.

On January 25, 1966, NASA announced that Michael Collins would become the pilot of Gemini 10 , under the command of John Young . This flight ran from July 18 to July 21, 1966 and was the first to perform both a pairing and a space exit.

In Earth orbit , Collins left the spaceship to photograph the earth and stars. He undertook a second spacecraft mission to fetch a plate from an Agena target satellite that had been in orbit for several months to determine the micro- meteoroid activity. Collins was the first astronaut to leave the spaceship twice during a space flight, and the first to move from one missile to another in space.

Use in the Apollo project

Michael Collins during an Apollo 11 press conference

On September 29, 1966, Collins was assigned to the replacement crew of the second manned Apollo flight , which was to take place in April 1967. Collins was in reserve for Walter Cunningham .

On December 22, 1966 he was nominated as the pilot of an Apollo spacecraft , with which the new lunar module was to be tested in an earth orbit in December 1967 under the command of Frank Borman . However, these plans were thwarted by the Apollo 1 disaster in January 1967.

The flight scheduled for December 1967 was postponed to December 1968. Instead of a test of the lunar module, a direct flight to the moon with Apollo 8 was to be carried out, but Collins had to leave the team in mid-1968 for health reasons because spinal disc problems had developed in the cervical area, which affected his legs. Collins had an operation and had to wear a neck brace for several months. During the flight, Collins was able to work from Houston on the flight control as a liaison officer ( CapCom ).

After his recovery in late 1968, he was nominated as a pilot of the Apollo 11 command module . Buzz Aldrin , who was supposed to take on this task, became the lunar module pilot instead. Fred Haise, who was originally assigned for this purpose, was promoted to the substitute team. Neil Armstrong was to become the commanding officer of Apollo 11 . At this point in time it was not yet clear whether the first manned moon landing could be carried out with Apollo 11, this was only certain after the successful flights of Apollo 9 and Apollo 10 .

Collins also designed the Apollo 11 mission badge, which featured an eagle landing on the moon. The flight of Apollo 11 took place from July 16 to July 24, 1969. While Armstrong and Aldrin descended on the Eagle Ferry to the lunar surface and became the first humans on the moon, Collins remained alone in orbit.

After the Apollo 11 flight, Collins received an offer to become the substitute commander of Apollo 14 with the prospect of going on the moon as Apollo 17 commander himself. Collins refused, however.

According to NASA

Reception at the White House on July 21, 2004 (from left to right: Michael Collins, George W. Bush , Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin)

Collins left NASA in the following year and worked from June 1970 to April 1971 as Secretary of State for Public Relations ( Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs ) at the US State Department .

Collins then became the first director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. His job was to advance the planning and construction of the new museum building. The inauguration took place on July 1, 1976, shortly before the 200th anniversary of the USA. The construction time was shorter than planned, and it stayed below the estimated costs.

In 1978, Collins assumed other senior roles within the Smithsonian Institution. In the same year he left the US Air Force with the rank of brigadier general . From 1980 to 1985 he worked for LTV Aerospace & Defense , after which he ran his own company.

Michael Collins died on April 28, 2021 at the age of 90 of complications from cancer.

Special features and records

  • First man to do two spacewalks ( Gemini 10 )
  • First human to move from one spacecraft to another in space ( Gemini 10 )
  • Second person to be alone in lunar orbit ( Apollo 11 )

Honors

Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins decorated by the Brazilian government, 1969. National Archives of Brazil.

Michael Collins is one of the relatively few astronauts to be a member of the National Aviation Hall of Fame . He also received in 1969 the Medal of Freedom ( "The Presidential Medal of Freedom"), the highest civilian honor in the US, and in the same year the Imperial Order of Culture of Japan. The lunar crater Collins and the asteroid (6471) Collins are named after him.

miscellaneous

The band Jethro Tull dedicated the song For Michael Collins, Jeffrey and Me from the album Benefit to Collins and his feelings while circling the moon without his companions .

He is portrayed by Lukas Haas in the film Aufbruch zum Mond , which was released in 2018 .

Works

Michael Collins is the author of several books on space:

See also

Web links

Commons : Michael Collins  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Richard Goldstein: Michael Collins, 'Third Man' of the Moon Landing, Dies at 90. In: The New York Times . April 28, 2021, accessed April 28, 2021 .
personal data
SURNAME Collins, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American astronaut
DATE OF BIRTH October 31, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Rome , Italy
DATE OF DEATH April 28, 2021
PLACE OF DEATH Naples , Florida