NASA Remembers Apollo Astronaut Michael Collins

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Astronaut Michael Collins, command module pilot of the historic Apollo 11 mission to the Moon, has died at the age of 90.  Collins was one of the third group of astronauts appointed by NASA in October 1963. In 1966, he served as pilot on the three-day Gemini 10 mission, during which he set a world altitude record and became the third American spacewalker to complete two extravehicular activities. His second flight was as command module pilot of the historic Apollo 11 mission in July 1969. He remained in lunar orbit while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon.

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00:00Jiminy was a vital bridge, a link between Mercury and between Apollo. So, Jiminy's primary job was

00:24to work out all the technical details to bring two spacecraft together in Earth orbit and

00:32then to keep two people in Earth orbit for 14 days. The spacewalks of Project Jiminy were

00:41needed to prove that everything would be okay on the surface of the moon.

00:46The prime crew now departing from their crew quarters here at the Kennedy Space Center.

00:51That's Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and then finally Mike Collins.

00:55Columbia, this is Houston. ALS, over.

00:58Houston, Columbia on the high gate, over.

01:01Roger, the EVA is progressing beautifully. I guess you're about the only person around

01:05that doesn't have TV coverage of the scene.

01:08That's all right, I don't mind a bit.

01:1050 or 60 years from now, I think we'll be doing amazing things that we're not able to

01:17predict with any accuracy whatsoever today. People have this curiosity.

01:23They want to know about the universe. They want to know more about how it works,

01:27how it affects their lives.

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