dziwne-zwierzęta-oceaniczne: Michael Collins (astronaut)

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

Michael Collins (October 31, 1930 – April 28, 2021) was an American astronaut who flew the Apollo 11 command module Columbia around the Moon in 1969 while his crewmates, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, made the first crewed landing on the surface. He was also a test pilot and major general in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. Born in Rome, where his father was serving as the U.S. military attaché, Collins graduated in the Class of 1952 from the United States Military Academy. He followed his father, brother, uncle, and cousin into the military. He joined the United States Air Force, and flew F-86 Sabre fighters at Chambley-Bussières Air Base, France. He was accepted into the U.S. Air Force Experi…

Evidence: 52 • authority: 72

Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys is the autobiography of the Gemini 10 and Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins. It was released in 1974 with a foreword by the aviator Charles Lindbergh (who died that year). The book was re-released in 2009 to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the first crewed lunar landing, and again for its 50th anniversary, in 2019. The book covers Collins's life as a test pilot in the United States Air Force; his selection as an astronaut and his spacewalks on Gemini 10 and historic flight as the command module pilot on Apollo 11. Collins presents some candid insights into his astronaut colleagues, including Neil Armstrong ("I can't offhand think of a bette…

Evidence: 45 • authority: 72

Buzz Aldrin ( AWL-drin; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr., January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, aeronautical engineer, and fighter pilot. He was the second person to walk on the Moon after mission commander Neil Armstrong. He made three spacewalks as pilot of NASA’s 1966 Gemini 12 mission, and was the Lunar Module Eagle pilot on the 1969 Apollo 11 mission. Following the deaths of Armstrong in 2012 and pilot Michael Collins in 2021, Aldrin is the last surviving Apollo 11 crew member, and the oldest living astronaut. Born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, Aldrin graduated third in the class of 1951 from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a degree in mechanical engineering…

Evidence: 34 • authority: 72

Records and firsts in spaceflight are broadly divided into crewed and uncrewed categories. Records involving animal spaceflight have also been noted in earlier experimental flights, typically to establish the feasibility of sending humans to outer space. The notion of "firsts" in spaceflight follows a long tradition of firsts in aviation, but is also closely tied to the Space Race. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Soviet Union and the United States competed to be the first countries to accomplish various feats. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial orbital satellite. In 1961, Soviet Vostok 1 cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to enter space and orbit…

Evidence: 34 • authority: 72

Eileen Marie Collins (born 19 November 1956) is an American retired NASA astronaut and Air Force colonel. A flight instructor and test pilot, Collins was the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle and the first to command a Space Shuttle mission. A graduate of Corning Community College, where she earned an associate degree in mathematics in 1976, and Syracuse University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics and economics in 1978, Collins was commissioned as an officer in the USAF through Syracuse's Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program. She was one of four women chosen for Undergraduate Pilot Training at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. After earning h…

Evidence: 29 • authority: 72

Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity performed by an astronaut in outer space outside of a spacecraft. This includes spacewalks, lunar or planetary surface exploration (commonly known as moonwalks), and stand-up EVAs (SEVAs) where astronauts stand through an open hatch without fully leaving the spacecraft. EVAs have been conducted by the Soviet Union/Russia, the United States, and China, with astronauts from Canada, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, and the European Space Agency also participating in EVAs conducted by those nations. Since there is no atmosphere in space, the astronaut is completely dependent on the space suit for environmental support. On March 18, 1965, Alexei Leon…