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On July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins made history when their Apollo 11 mission successfully put the first man on the lunar surface. Armstrong became an overnight sensation, leaped off the moon lander and delivered his iconic “one step” speech to the millions watching from his home, before Aldrin joined soon after. Meanwhile, Collins piloted the Columbia Command Module alone in lunar orbit for 21 hours, while the pair conducted their experiments on the Moon.
But, the legendary astronaut made a heartbreaking confession about his role in the iconic mission more than 50 years later.
Speaking in 2019, he told ABC: “They were wonderful crewmates, each in his own way.
“Buzz was, from a technical point of view, Neil not only a very experienced test pilot, but he knew the why and why of the spacecraft.
“You were hit back and forth during takeoff, that continued for about five or six seconds before it ended and we were free.
“We looked out the window and my God, the moon was huge and so three-dimensional.
“You have sunlight illuminating the ring on the surface.
“I looked back from 230,000 miles away and saw this tiny little object, somehow beyond its size and brightness, it projects a sense of fragility, it’s a fragile little thing.”
But Collins, now 89, said he was not envious of his colleagues who came to walk on the lunar surface, he was much happier in the safety of the command module.
He added: “I like being alone in the command module, I had my own way of doing things, I drank hot coffee, I took the center seat and it was almost like being in a small church.
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“I was worried that I would have to be in that situation.
“I had bet Neil a case of beer that we wouldn’t tip over on the way back.
“We hit the ocean so fast that Buzz, who was ready, shook his hand and missed the circuit breakers.
“I turned on the switches and they didn’t work because he hadn’t pushed the switches.
“So we went to stable two and I owed Neil a case of beer.”
