Michael Collins was the third member of the 1969 Apollo 11 crew. Although he did not set foot on the moon himself, the former Air Force test pilot had the important role of completing the first lunar landing mission by bringing the crew safely back to Earth. Collins died in 2021, 52 years after piloting the Apollo 11 command module. In 2019, he shared his story on 60 Minutes, talking about the pivotal moment in mankind's history he said he "played a small part in", and explained why, even though

Right after leaving Earth, Apollo 17’s Command and Service Module America flipped around to dock with the Lunar Module Challenger inside the Saturn upper stage. This sequence shows that approach and capture, the first step toward the last Apollo landing. Follow @spaceeves #Apollo17 #MoonLanding #SpaceHistory | SpaceEve