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
Buzz Aldrin after two hours and six minutes. A third, 55-minute standup EVA was conducted on November 14, during which Aldrin took photographs, conducted experiments, and discarded some unneeded items. On November 15, the crew initiated the automatic reentry system and splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, from whence they were picked up by a helicopter which took them to the awaiting aircraft carrier . After the mission, his wife realized he had fallen into a depression, something she had not seen before. Lovell and Aldrin were assigned to an Apollo crew with Neil Armstrong as Commander, Lovell as Command Module Pilot