Astronaut Michael Collins, one of the three members of the successful Apollo 11 mission to the moon in 1969, has died Wednesday his family confirmed.
Collins was battling cancer, his family said in a statement posted to Twitter. He was 90.
"He spent his final days resting peacefully, with family by his side," the statement said. "Mike always faced the challenges of life with grace and humility, and faced this, his final challenge, in the same way."
Collins served as a command module pilot and was the "Forgotten Man" during the mission. While Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed in the Eagle on July 20, 1969, and spent 21/2 hours walking on the moon's surface, Collins remained in lunar orbit, tending to the mother ship Columbia.
"Apollo 11 ... was serious business. We, crew, felt the weight of the world on our shoulders. We knew that everyone would be looking at us, friend or foe, and we wanted to do the best we possibly could," Collins said in 2019 on the 50th anniversary of the launch.
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