You are here: Home | Forum | RIP Astronaut Mike Collins.
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most of the discussions, articles and other free features. By joining our Virgin Media community you will have full access to all discussions, be able to view and post threads, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload your own images/photos, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please join our community today.
Location: Galactic Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, www.daves-world.co.uk. A secret Moonbase (shh don't tell anybody)
Age: 55
Services: 1 V6, 2x1TB TiVo, SH3. Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ 5G, Ton's of Smart Home stuff, & Cuddy Toy
Posts: 16,869
Re: RIP Astronaught Mike Collins.
Sad Day.
I sat on my dad's knee when man walked on the moon, I don't remember this as I was 7 months old.
__________________ STAY AT HOME: I found out that mum will never walk again as the coronavirus attacked her nervous system. She died on September 30th, wearing a mask and she still might be alive today.
Location: Galactic Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, www.daves-world.co.uk. A secret Moonbase (shh don't tell anybody)
Age: 55
Services: 1 V6, 2x1TB TiVo, SH3. Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ 5G, Ton's of Smart Home stuff, & Cuddy Toy
Posts: 16,869
Re: RIP Astronaut Mike Collins.
The scary thing is that he faced the possibility of coming home alone, if issues prevented Neil & Buzz leaving the lunar surface.
__________________ STAY AT HOME: I found out that mum will never walk again as the coronavirus attacked her nervous system. She died on September 30th, wearing a mask and she still might be alive today.
“I have been places and done things you simply would not believe. I feel like saying: I have dangled from a cord a hundred miles up; I have seen the earth eclipsed by the moon, and enjoyed it. I have seen the sun’s true light, unfiltered by any planet’s atmosphere. I have seen the ultimate black of infinity in a stillness undisturbed by any living thing.
“I do have this secret,” he added, “this precious thing, that I will always carry with me.”
Makes me think he inspired the Blade Runner quote.
It would've been tricky to make re-entry alone; that was considered an absolute last resort. Astronauts are trained to be team players more than in almost any other profession. Mike's role in the mission is, understandably, overlooked, but Armstrong and Aldrin would never have made it back without the Command Module because the Lunar Module wasn't a self-contained spacecraft, as it wasn't possible (tech- and weight-wise) to build such a thing then. He must've been lonely in lunar orbit.
Apollo 11 is one of my earliest memories; I was 3 1/2 and I don't think anyone in the family slept for the entire landing mission. I miss those days when it all seemed possible. It still does. It still is.
And (slightly O/T) anyone who doubts Apollo achieved anything other than sticking it to the Soviet Union is invited to read Heinlein's Expanded Universe Part II, the chapter titled 'Spinoff' - a lot of things people take for granted came out of the program: CAT scans, ultrasound, anything with miniaturised long-life power sources, robotics and, of course, computers. The entire 10 years of Apollo cost less than 5 cents per U.S. citizen per day.
Yet Congress bleated about the cost. Whuh?
Sorry, this is a pet gripe of mine; they never should have stopped. We should have a permanent base there by now.
__________________
"People tend to confuse the words 'new' and 'improved'."
- Agent Phil Coulson, S.H.I.E.L.D.
Join CF
You are here: 
Baby, I was born this way.
