Very sorry to hear of the death of @AstroMCollins today. Mike Collins (1930-2021) was the pilot of Gemini 10 and the command module pilot of Apollo 11.
@AstroMCollins While his crewmates were on the surface and he orbited above the farside Collins became the first human to have an entire world between him and all other humans.
Collins wrote the first really good astronaut autobiography, Carrying the Fire (which you should read).
Collins was the director of the Smithsonian's awesome National Air and Space Museum (which you should visit) during the 1970s when it first opened to the public.
Collins was born in Rome (his dad was US military attaché there at the time) and so was the first person born in western Europe to fly in space.
Collins died Apr 28 of cancer. He was retired and living near Fort Myers, Florida.
Ten of the 24 humans who have flown in deep space remain with us: Aldrin, Anders, Borman, Duke, Haise, Lovell, Mattingly, Schmitt, Scott, and Stafford
Collins was selected as part of NASA Group 3, in Oct 1963. Of the 14 Group 3 astros, 4 landed on the Moon and 3 others flew in deep space. Four died in training accidents without making a spaceflight. Aldrin, Anders, Cunningham, Schweickart and Scott are still alive.
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