Michael Collins, Apollo 11 astronaut, dies of cancer
He died on Wednesday after "a valiant battle with cancer. He spent his final days peacefully, with his family by his side," they said. Astronaut Michael Collins, a member of the Apollo 11 mission that landed on the moon, has died at 90.
As Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted humanity's first footprint’s on the moon, Collins stayed behind to pilot the command module, circling roughly 60 miles above the lunar surface. As such, Collins himself never stepped foot on the moon, though his accomplishments together with Armstrong and Aldrin contributed to what remains one of the most famous space missions in history.
Collins had stayed in lunar orbit as his colleagues Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon. Aldrin, 91, is now the only surviving member of the mission. Paying tribute to Collins, Aldrin wrote in a tweet: "Dear Mike, Wherever you have been or will be, you will always have the Fire to Carry us deftly to new heights and the future. We will miss you. May you Rest In Peace."
'We felt the weight of the world on our shoulders. ‘In a statement, the Collins family said that way”. We will miss him terribly. Yet we also know how lucky Mike felt to have lived the life he did."We will honour his wish for us to celebrate, not mourn, that life.
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