I am pausing today to remember Michael Collins, NASA astronaut from Gemini 10 and the Command Module Pilot of Apollo 11. Mike died on April 28th from cancer at the age of 90 with his family by his side, (obituary from the Washington Post). May you rest in peace and may you fly in favorable winds.
Direct link to video from NASA
I wish that I had an opportunity to meet and talk to Mike Collins in person, I think that we would have had a fun time. But I did get to know him through his book, Carrying the Fire. I purchased a paperbook copy of the book several years ago. Unfortunately, I can not seem to find it at the moment. I may have lent it to someone. But I did purchase a Kindle version two years ago (2019 edition) and read it from cover to cover. I appreciated what to me was a down to earth writing style. I felt like I got to know Mike through his writing. He took me into the cockpit and aboard Gemini 10 and Apollo 11. I recall that he made some of the more technical terms understandable to this lay person and non-pilot. Thank-you Mike for this book and for writing a children's edition of the book.
NASA posted some statements on the passing of Mike Collins and has a nice page on Mike with links to a biography, pictures and videos.
I found this 10 minute 2019 video of a PBS NewsHour interview with Mike Collins on the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 flight to the Moon. I share this here because you will hear him speak of some the reflections and experiences that he wrote about in Carrying the Fire.
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