In June 1969, a month before liftoff, command module pilot Michael Collins practices in the simulator at Kennedy Space Center. Photo courtesy of NASA
NASA named these three astronauts as the prime crew of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission: Neil A. Armstrong (L to R), commander; Collins, command module pilot; and Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot. Photo courtesy of NASA
As the Apollo 11 astronauts rehearse their lunar landing mission in simulators, they pause in front of a lunar module mockup in the Flight Crew Training Building area on June 19, 1969. From left, are Collins, Armstrong and Aldrin. Photo courtesy of NASA
Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin (L to R) stand near the Apollo/Saturn V space vehicle at Kennedy Space Center on May 20, 1969. Photo courtesy of NASA
Carrying the Apollo 11 Saturn V rocket and mobile launcher, the crawler inches its way along the 3.5-mile journey to Launch Pad 39A. The 363-foot-high space vehicle launched the Apollo 11 astronauts. Photo courtesy of NASA
Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin (L to R) perform a walk-through egress test on June 10, 1969. Photo courtesy of NASA
The Apollo 11 crew await pickup by a helicopter from the USS Hornet, prime recovery ship for the historic lunar landing mission. The fourth man in the life raft is a U.S. Navy underwater demolition team swimmer. All four men are wearing biological isolation garments. The Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia with the astronauts aboard splashed down at 11:49 a.m. CDT, July 24, 1969, about 812 nautical miles southwest of Hawaii and only 12 nautical miles from the USS Hornet. Photo courtesy of NASA
In the Mission Operations Control Room of the Mission Control Center, Building 30, Manned Spacecraft Center, flight controllers applaud the splashdown and success of the Apollo 11 lunar mission on July 24, 1969. Photo courtesy of NASA
Para-rescue officer Lt. Clancy Hatleberg closes the Apollo 11 spacecraft hatch as the astronauts await a helicopter pickup from their life raft after they splashed down. Photo courtesy of NASA
Donned in biological isolation garments, the Apollo 11 crew members, from left to right, Aldrin, Armstrong (waving) and Collins exit the recovery pickup helicopter to board the USS Hornet aircraft carrier. During the eight-day space mission, Armstrong and Aldrin explored the moon's surface and brought back rock samples for scientists to study. Collins piloted the command module in the lunar orbit during their 22-hour stay on the moon. Photo courtesy of NASA
President Richard M. Nixon was in the central Pacific recovery area to welcome the Apollo 11 astronauts aboard the USS Hornet after splashdown. Photo courtesy of NASA
Within the Mobile Quarantine Facility, Collins (L to R), Aldrin and Armstrong relax following their successful lunar landing mission. They spent 2 1/2 days in the quarantine trailer en route from the USS Hornet, the prime recovery ship, to the Lunar Receiving Laboratory at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston. The Hornet docked at Pearl Harbor, where the trailer was transferred to a jet aircraft for the flight to Houston. Photo courtesy of NASA
Confetti and streamers fill the street as Chicago welcomes the three Apollo 11 astronauts Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin on August 13, 1969. Photo courtesy of NASA
New York City welcomes Apollo 11 crewmen in a showering of ticker tape down Broadway near Park Avenue in a parade termed as the largest in the city's history. Pictured in the lead car are astronauts Armstrong (L to R), Collins and Aldrin. Photo courtesy of NASA
President George W. Bush, left center, poses with astronauts Collins (L to R), Armstrong and Aldrin on July 21, 2004, in the Oval Office of the White House, commemorating the 35th anniversary of the first landing on the moon. Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI
Apollo 11 crew members Aldrin (L), Collins, 2nd from left, Armstrong and NASA Mission Control creator and former NASA Johnson Space Center director Chris Kraft (R) gather at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington on July 19, 2009. Photo by Bill Ingalls/UPI
President Barack Obama meets with crew members of Apollo 11 on the 40th anniversary of the first manned moon landing in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on July 20, 2009. From left are Aldrin, Collins, Armstrong and Obama. Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI
Astronauts Collins (L to R), Armstrong and Aldrin are honored during the 40th anniversary of their Apollo 11 flight, which put the first man on the moon, on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 21, 2009. Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI
Collins attends an event marking the 40th anniversary of their Apollo 11 flight, which put the first man on the moon, on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 21, 2009. Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI
John Glenn (L) shakes hands with Aldrin during a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony honoring astronauts Glenn, Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin on Capitol Hill in Washington on November 16, 2011. Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) gives Collins his medal during a Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony honoring astronauts Glenn, Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin on Capitol Hill in Washington on November 16, 2011. Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI
Apollo 11 Astronauts Collins (L) and Aldrin talk at a private memorial service celebrating the life of Neil Armstrong on August 31, 2012, at the Camargo Club in Cincinnati. Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, died August 25. He was 82. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA
President Donald Trump delivers remarks as he welcomes Apollo 11 astronauts Collins (L) and Aldrin (R) and family members of the late Neil Armstrong, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 19, 2019. July 20 marked the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 becoming the first mission to land on the moon. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
Collins listens as Trump delivers remarks as he and fellow Apollo 11 astronaut Aldrin, and family members of the late Neil Armstrong, are welcomed to the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. on July 19, 2019. Tomorrow makes the 50th anniversary that Apollo 11 became the first mission to land on the moon. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
April 28 (UPI) -- Michael Collins, a former NASA astronaut who was part of the first moon landing mission of Apollo 11 in 1969, died on Wednesday. He was 90.
Collins was part of Apollo 11's three-man crew, but unlike Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, he never walked on the moon. He was sometimes known as the "forgotten astronaut."
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"Today the nation lost a true pioneer and lifelong advocate for exploration in astronaut Michael Collins," Acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk said in a statement Wednesday.
"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."
Collins' death leaves Aldrin as the last remaining survivor from the historic Apollo 11 mission. Armstrong died in 2012.
Aldrin tweeted Wednesday afternoon: Dear Mike, Wherever you have been or will be, you will always have the Fire to Carry us deftly to new heights and to the future. We will miss you. May you Rest in Peace.
The tweet carried the hashtage #Apollo11.
Collins had been battling cancer. A statement released by his family said: "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."
In 1969, while Armstrong and Aldrin left the main capsule in a craft headed to the lunar surface, Collins radioed, "You cats take it easy."
Collins would circle the moon alone in the command module, 60 miles above the lunar surface, while Armstrong and Aldrin set down on the moon. He had prepared a 117-page list of contingencies in the event of problems.
Aldrin and Armstrong were on the moon's surface for about 22 hours, but only spent a couple hours outside the lunar vehicle.
"The view from the moon of tiny Earth is something I'll always bring with me," Collins told UPI in 2019 during the run up to the mission's 50th anniversary.
"It was tiny but very memorable. Blue and white. It seemed to project a quality of fragility -- which, unfortunately, has turned out to be quite true."