OT - Michael Collins Apollo 11
Michael Collins, Apollo 11 astronaut, Major General USAF, Gemini astronaut
October 31, 1930 - April 28, 2021
Command Module Pilot of Eagle. Explorer.
(...in my opinion: hero.)
What about him?
Did he died?
(me answering this question in 2010)
I had the same question. Based on the date in the OP, he just passed.
Guess I should have added the /s after all!
Ha, me not catching the sarcasm gets an up-vote for you. I mean, it was the most logical answer, but I felt like it could have been spelled out a little more clearly. Or maybe I'm just slow plus needed to actually check today's date after reading the post, since I've lost all sense of time.
+1 to offset the neg someone threw your way!
I agree it could have been more clear like instead if OT maybe RIP!?
But maybe the OP was out off by recent complaints about too may RIP posts!?
I don’t know man.
I need a vacation... not another 10 month long staycation!
Amazing. Got involved with the space program years after being a part of the early 20th century Irish struggle for independence. Wait, I could be mistaken...nevermind.
Is there a connection to Michigan?
Could he beat Michael Winslow in a backgammon competition?
WHAT TIME IS IT?
“I really believe that if the political leaders of the world could see their planet from a distance of, let’s say 100,000 miles, their outlook would be fundamentally changed.
The all-important border would be invisible, that noisy argument suddenly silenced.”
Michael Collins
Go Blue.
There are some other excellent quotes in his obituary. The last few lines of the article about how he wants to be remembered are priceless.
His autobiography, Carrying the Fire, is easily the best Apollo-era biography out there.
If I may recommend another excellent Apollo-era book that I enjoyed just as much:
"Apollo 13" by James Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger which, I believe, is a reprint of "Lost Moon" by the same authors. More a "biography" of what happened on the Apollo 13 flight than on Lovell specifically.
I got to meet Lovell when he was in Detroit on the book tour. When I was a kid I kept close track of all the Apollo missions, so this was a chance to meet a hero (and I don't use that term lightly.) He was a very nice, soft-spoken man who seemed perfectly willing to shake hands and sign autographs for as long as people wanted. The very picture of your kindly grandfather - but to me, he also had that aura of total cool, of the guy who had looked Death in the face and said, Nope, not today.
Bad title, bruh.
What a life lived
I have him second in my power rankings of guys name Michael Collins
RIP
Jethro Tull: For Michael Collins, Jeffrey and Me
John Craigie: Michael Collins
April 28th, 2021 at 10:49 PM ^
Aqua lung was better.
Hero.
Space, Bitches. Space.
RIP
He's off the Big House in the sky. I hear Keith Jackson does play-by-play there.
RIP to an absolute hero. The risks taken and the faith entrusted by him and his peers was truly exceptional.
So... it looks like Buzz Aldrin inherits the stolen Nazi... I mean *moon people* loot from their Apollo tontine.
Excellent....
RIP Major General Collins. Your country is proud of you.
There are times for seriousness in posting and this is one of them.
Collins was one of the greatest of the Apollo astronauts - more affable than Armstrong, more humble than Aldrin.
We still have one of our own: James A McDivitt - Gemini 4/Apollo9. Graduated first in his engineering class at the University of Michigan in 1959.
McDivitt would be a great veteran of the game once we reopen sports. Korean War fighter pilot, test pilot, Gemini commander, Apollo commander.
And UoM grad: part of the all Michigan Gemini 4 crew. McDivitt and Ed White.
Something I read in his obit I had never thought about: his worst fear on the Apollo mission was having to return to earth without Armstrong and Aldrich if the Eagle failed to lift off from the moon. Yeah, no shit.
One day soon, Ireland will be united and Michael Collins dream will finally be achieved.
The thing is that Michael Collins was OK with the partition of Ireland, I mean thats kind of the reason he was killed
Those were three brave men. Sitting on top of a giant Roman candle, flying to the effing moon, and using the Command Module/LEM in its real application for the first time. I wouldn’t even like owning the first production car off the assembly line, let alone put my life entirely in its hands. God Speed to you, Mr. Collins.
P.S. The Command Module was named Columbia, The Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) was named Eagle. It’s a nit, but what the hell, I’m a former engineer.
Imagine being in said test vehicle all by yourself while Neil and Buzz are on the lunar surface.
Nice catch.
As an Apollo nerd, I may need to turn in my membership card...
"Just think, the contract on this thing went to the lowest bidder." Comment attributed to Alan Shepard prior to climbing into his space capsule for the first flight into outer space.
Steely eyed missile man
I always felt sorry for Michael Collins. The guy went all the way to the moon just to look out the window.
It's like driving with your buddies on an 800 mile road trip from Caribou Creek Saskatchewan to Vegas and and staying in the car the whole time.
Being the Designated Driver before "What Happens in Vegas..." became a catchphrase... brutal. Always felt sad for him. But without him, the other two may not have made it back.
Somebody had to be that person, however. I talked to Neil Armstrong once for 5 minutes (I'd see him fairly regularly at my local grocery store when I lived in Cincinnati!). He fully recognized Collins' contribution, and how he was only able to make it back to Earth and eventually be at that Kroger because of Collins' talents.
No need to feel sorry for Collins. Apollo was a 400,000 person project. Michael Collins had the 3rd best spot of the 400,000.
Perspective!
April 28th, 2021 at 10:54 PM ^
I wonder why he did not get to walk on the moon with the other missions? May be it was due to his age?
Some say he was offered command of what would have been Apollo 17 (the last moon landing mission) but he declined.
I think we forget the toll training for an Apollo mission took. It was a 100 hour week commitment for 1-2 years. These guys had wives and families and futures to look to.
Many Apollo astronauts opted out of another mission: Schirra, Borman, McDivitt.
You all still believe we landed on the moon?
Well, I kinda also believe a philpacker might be that very unique cicada variant that emerges after 12 years underground rather than every 17 or 13 years.
Time to pack it in, Phil.
Did a little research on the interweb.
Some things you may not have known:
Michael Collins was born in Rome. Married Patricia Finnegan. All Irish family.
Was called The Loneliest Man in the Universe as he orbited the moon alone.
He played the trombone, and the cocktail Tom Collins was named after a second cousin of his.
Okay, I made up the last two to spice things up.
As far as I could tell he didn't attend The University of Michigan.
Loved Collins' autobiography. Amazing what he and the others in the space program were able to achieve with the technology of the day.
The BBC had a great podcast on the Apollo 11 landing called "13 minutes to the moon", focused on the time it took the LEM to descend to the surface (just as it ran out of fuel).
Episode 7: "Third Man" features interview segments with Michael Collins:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csz4dq
The whole series is worth a listen, and I now see there's a second season on Apollo 13, featuring Lovell and others.