Armstrong and Aldrin, the two men who walked on the moon. Their popularity skyrocketed since 1969, the year of the famous moon landing, Apollo 11, the mission that more than 650 million people watched live, the first manned mission to the moon. Armstrong: the commander of the mission, his famous words: “That's one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.” heard by all the world. Buzz Aldrin, second of the two men to walk on the moon, the last living astronaut from the Apollo 11 mission, the man who held a religious ceremony on the moon. The two of them became loved and cherished, the men who achieved President Kennedy’s dream of landing on the moon. To date, many would say Armstrong and Aldrin were the famous astronauts on Apollo 11. But there was one more. One more astronaut, unknown to the ears of the present, but one who played a vital part in the moon landing. His name was Michael Collins, the astronaut who was in charge of safely carrying The Apollo 11 crew from Earth to the Moon, and back. The Apollo 11 was divided into three parts: The Service Module (where all the equipment was stored), the Lunar Module, Eagle (the ascent and descent vehicle) and the Command Module, Columbia (this is how the crew landed and lifted off from the moon's surface). Michael Collins was in charge of the command module; he was to orbit the moon till Armstrong and Aldrin completed their EVA (extra vehicular activity) on the surface of the moon. Collins orbited the moon thirty times, for twenty-one hours, he worried about Armstrong and Aldrin, if they were to have a malfunction and were unable to leave the moon, it was Collins who would return to Earth and become the sole survivor of the manned mission to the Moon. But thankfully, the surface mission was a success, with only a minor glitch now invisible to those who don’t pry. When the three-man crew finally landed back on Earth, Armstrong and Aldrin were the heroes, the first to walk on the moon. And just like that, Michael Collins faded away, a dismissible fact about the Mission to the Moon. He was called the ‘Forgotten Astronaut’ for, true to his nickname, the people of our world forgot about him and what an important role he played, for without him, Aldrin and Armstrong would have never made it to the moon, and Armstrong would have never said his famous words and President Kennedy would never have seen his dream come true. He was forgotten.

 
This year, 2021, Michael Collins, the unsung hero, died from his battle with cancer. The command module pilot, director of the Smithsonian Museum of Air and Space and the man who got Armstrong and Aldrin to the moon now rests among the stars.

‘Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss. you’ll land among the stars’ - Oscar Wilde

So, Godspeed, Michael Collins.