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More than 50 years ago, on July 20, 1996, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first two men to walk on the lunar surface during NASA’s iconic Apollo 11 mission. Meanwhile, Michael Collins spent more than 21 hours alone in the Command Module, while the pair conducted their experiments on the lunar surface. As a trio, they would end the space race with the Soviet Union by completing US President John F. Kennedy’s goal of putting a man on the Moon in the late 1960s.
After returning to Earth, Collins took a tour around the world with his colleagues to celebrate his accomplishments, but after that, in 1970, he retired from NASA, despite being a likely candidate to be the next man in walk. Moon.
The legendary astronaut, now 89, told the BBC in 2019: “I left the space program before Apollo ended, I felt that the first lunar landing had fundamentally done what John F. Kennedy had asked us to do.
“I went on to do other things, first I was a state assistant, then director of the National Air and Space Museum.
“There are many reasons why I stayed away from Apollo, some of them professional and others personal.
“I think the personals at the time probably weighed more on me than the professionals.”
Collins explained that his lifestyle was becoming increasingly demanding for both him and his family.
He added: “My wife, Pat, had endured my ridiculous career as a jet fighter pilot, test pilot, and this disgusting astronaut.
“That required long hours, a lot of time away from home and during that time out, they put you in a simulator.
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“When Gene Cernan, my good friend, came to the lunar surface, did I feel a sense of green and bad envy? I might have thought it could have been me.
“But it wasn’t green with envy or anything like that, it wasn’t a strong feeling.
“I made my decision, I was happy with my decision, I lived in Washington DC with a decent job, my family situation was good, I had no reason to regret it.”
