Michael Collins (Major General, USAF, Retired), October 31, 1930 – April 28, 2021
Michael Collins, the astronaut who took this photo, is the only human, alive or dead, that wasn’t in the frame of this picture when it was taken on July 21, 1969.
“This venture has been structured for three men, and I consider my third to be as necessary as either of the other two. I don’t mean to deny a feeling of solitude. It is there, reinforced by the fact that radio contact with the Earth abruptly cuts off at the instant I disappear behind the moon. I am alone now, truly alone, and absolutely isolated from any known life. I am it. If a count were taken, the score would be three billion plus two over on the other side of the moon, and one plus God knows what on this side.” – Michael Collins