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
Edwin Eugene Aldrin Sr. a reservist until he retired from the Air Force Reserve with the rank of colonel on 1 May 1956. He later became a consultant to the manned space flight safety director of the NASA. Aldrin died in San Francisco, California, on 28 December 1974, while he was visiting his daughter there, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was survived by his sister, two daughters, and son, Buzz Aldrin. His wife Marion suffered from depression and killed herself in 1968. He is commemorated by the Edwin E. Aldrin, Sr. Award, which is presented to an Air Force Institute of