Michael Collins (astronaut) Michael Collins (astronaut) Michael Collins (born October 31, 1930) (Major General, USAF, Retired) is an American former astronaut and test pilot. Selected as part of the third group of fourteen astronauts in 1963, he flew into space twice. His first spaceflight was on Gemini 10, in which he and Command Pilot John Young performed two rendezvous with different spacecraft and undertook two extra-vehicular activities (EVAs, also known as spacewalks). His second spaceflight was as the Command Module Pilot for Apollo 11. While he stayed in orbit around the Moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left in the Lunar Module to
6470 Aldrin 14.78. This minor planet was named for American astronaut Buzz Aldrin (born 1930), on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. He was one of the first two humans to land on the Moon, and the second person to walk on it, following Neil Armstrong, after whom the asteroid 6469 Armstrong is named. Its name was suggested by Czech astronomers Jana Tichá, Miloš Tichý and Zdeněk Moravec, who observed the asteroid during its 1995-opposition, shortly before being numbered. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 4 May 1999 (). 6470 Aldrin