How Was The Forgotten NASA Astronaut Treated Upon Returning to Earth in 1969? Michael Collins Shares Experience

Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, three NASA astronauts, completed the Apollo 11 mission to the moon and returned eight days before returning to Earth.

Who can forget the memorable remarks said by Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong when they first set foot on the lunar surface?

One astronaut, Michael Collins, isn't as frequently mentioned, despite the fact that he was essential to the 1969 mission's success.

Here is what transpired to him following the journey.

Here's What Happened to the Forgotten NASA Astronaut

Michael Collins, a fighter pilot by training, recognized that his seat on Apollo 11 wasn't the finest. He was, nevertheless, really content with his seat.

He would have been very, very happy to take part in even a little portion of that journey.

"And, besides, I was their ticket home - they couldn't get home without me," Collins told 60 Minutes Australia.

Collins, therefore, orbited the far side of the moon in complete darkness while his crewmates retrieved pebbles on the surface.

Collins said the food was terrible. However, he relished his time spent in the rougher, "very uncomfortable" area of the moon.

The "forgotten" NASA astronaut added that while the moon looked "impressive," it was "nothing compared to Earth."

Despite the breathtaking sights, the astronauts' hero status wasn't entirely realized till they arrived home.

Collins emphasized that they spent a two-week quarantine period in isolation. He continued by saying that some scientists were concerned about any pathogens they might have brought back from the moon because they might be harmful to humans.

"So, their solution to that was to put us inside a hermetically sealed container with a gigantic colony of white mice - [if] the white mice lived we were okay, [if the] white mice died we were in deep trouble," he said per Unilad.

Naturally, Collins said he kept an eye on them. There were too many of them to identify individually, he added.

Thankfully, the mice made it through.

Collins stated that he "loved those mice," and he believed others would too if they were the only living thing you saw for two weeks.

How Collins Came Up Again

Collins' statements have emerged as NASA was about to launch its Artemis I mission today, August 29.

The mission was postponed when a leak was discovered, as Science Times previously reported. NASA rescheduled the launch on September 2.

NASA's new spacecraft won't return until Oct. 10 if everything goes according to plan, Mashable mentioned.

The US$4.1 billion mission, the country's first to the moon since 1972, is a test flight intended to demonstrate the safety of the 32-story rocket and Orion for delivering people on extended missions to the lunar surface.

The mission will be the first in 50 years with the potential of transporting people to the moon and intends to lay the groundwork for deep space travel.

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