Who are Michael Collin's children? Inside Apollo 11 astronaut's life with Kate, Michael Collins Jr and Ann
Michael Collins,90, was part of the first three-member crew on Apollo 11, the first lunar landing mission in 1969. Collins piloted the command and service module while Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong walked the lunar surface. The term "loneliest person in the world" and "forgotten astronaut" was coined for Collins when he landed back on Earth.
Collins is survived by his three children - Kate, Michael Jr., and Ann. His wife Patricia M. Finnegan had passed away in 2014. Collins had been battling cancer for the past few years says a statement released by his family, "He spent his final days peacefully, with his family by his side. Mike always faced the challenges of life with grace and humility, and faced this, his final challenge, in the same way."
Who are Michael Collins' children?
Kate Collins
Kate was born to Collins and Finnegan on May 6, 1958, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and was raised in Washington, DC. A longtime star of the ABC soap opera 'All My Chidren' announced the death of her father on Twitter.
“Please join us in fondly and joyful remembering his sharp wit, his quiet sense of purpose, and his wise perspective gained both from looking back at Earth from the vantage of space and gazing across calm waters from the deck of his fishing boat,” Kate tweeted. Her siblings Michael Collins Jr. and Ann Collins have maintained a fairly low profile and details about their lives are sparse.
NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk's statement on Michael Collins' passing
“Today the nation lost a true pioneer and lifelong advocate for exploration in astronaut Michael Collins. As pilot of the Apollo 11 command module – some called him ‘the loneliest man in history’ – while his colleagues walked on the Moon for the first time, he helped our nation achieve a defining milestone. He also distinguished himself in the Gemini Program and as an Air Force pilot.
"NASA mourns the loss of this accomplished pilot and astronaut, a friend of all who seek to push the envelope of human potential. Whether his work was behind the scenes or on full view, his legacy will always be as one of the leaders who took America's first steps into the cosmos. And his spirit will go with us as we venture toward farther horizons," excerpts from the statement read.
Mike Collins was born in 1930 in Rome, Italy where his dad was a major general in the US Army. Service and duty were a part of Collins his whole life. He graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point and later joined the Air Force and became a test pilot.
NASA chose him as an astronaut in 1963 and his first flight was aboard Gemini 10. On that mission, he became the fourth human to conduct a spacewalk. As a boy, Collins dreamed of going to space. "I used to joke that NASA sent me to the wrong place, to the moon," he said, "because I think Mars is a more interesting place. It's a place I always read about as a child."
Apollo 11 was his final trip to space and he never dwelled on missing a chance to step on the moon. "As an astronaut, I always thought I had the best job in the world and I still think that," he said, "but for me when it was over it was over." He would still look up at the moon and marvel, "'Oh my God! I've been there!' I was up there, you see. Kind of takes me by surprise despite all these years."
He called his time with NASA "a chapter in my life — the shiniest best chapter in my life — but not the only one." Collins left NASA in 1970 to join the State Department. Later he became director of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, overseeing its construction and opening in 1976. In his later years, he competed in triathlons, indulged in his hobby of fishing and got in touch with his artistic side taking up painting, according to NPR.
The following is a statement from the Collins family: “We regret to share that our beloved father and grandfather passed away today, after a valiant battle with cancer. He spent his final days peacefully, with his family by his side. Mike always faced the challenges of life with grace and humility, and faced this, his final challenge, in the same way. We will miss him terribly. Yet we also know how lucky Mike felt to have lived the life he did. We will honor his wish for us to celebrate, not mourn, that life. Please join us in fondly and joyfully remembering his sharp wit, his quiet sense of purpose, and his wise perspective, gained both from looking back at Earth from the vantage of space and gazing across calm waters from the deck of his fishing boat.”