While Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon, Michael Collins orbited above them alone in Columbia — and for roughly 47 minutes of each orbit, when the body of the Moon itself blocked radio contact with both Earth and the lunar surface, he was

While Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon, Michael Collins orbited above them alone in Columbia — and for roughly 47 minutes of each orbit, when the body of the Moon itself blocked radio contact with both Earth and the lunar surface, he was

The famous framing was that he was the loneliest human in history. Collins himself, in his own writing, disagreed. On 20 July 1969, while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descended to the lunar surface, Michael Collins orbited above them in the Apollo 11 command module Columbia. For roughly 47 minutes of each orbit, when the body of the Moon sat between Columbia and Earth, no direct radio signal from Earth or Eagle could reach him. Mission Control…