Michael Collins is a former American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 astronaut

Astronaut

An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....

 and test pilot

Test pilot

A test pilot is an aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques or FTTs, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated....

. Selected as part of the third group of fourteen astronauts

Astronaut Group 3

Astronaut Group 3 was the third group of astronauts selected by NASA. Their selection was announced in October 1963. Fourteen astronauts made up Group 3. Four died in training accidents before they could fly in space. All of the surviving ten flew in the Apollo program; five also flew Gemini...

 in 1963, he flew in space twice. His first spaceflight was Gemini 10

Gemini 10

-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 28.87°*Period: 88.79 min-Docking:*Docked: July 19, 1966 - 04:15:00 UTC*Undocked: July 20, 1966 - 19:00:00 UTC-Space walk:...

, in which he and command pilot John Young performed two rendezvous with different spacecraft and Collins undertook two EVA

Extra-vehicular activity

Extra-vehicular activity is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth, and outside of a spacecraft. The term most commonly applies to an EVA made outside a craft orbiting Earth , but also applies to an EVA made on the surface of the Moon...

s. His second spaceflight was as the command module

Apollo Command/Service Module

The Command/Service Module was one of two spacecraft, along with the Lunar Module, used for the United States Apollo program which landed astronauts on the Moon. It was built for NASA by North American Aviation...

 pilot for Apollo 11

Apollo 11

In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was...

. While he orbited the Moon, Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong

Neil Alden Armstrong is an American former astronaut, test pilot, aerospace engineer, university professor, United States Naval Aviator, and the first person to set foot upon the Moon....

 and Buzz Aldrin

Buzz Aldrin

Buzz Aldrin is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history...

 made the first manned landing on the lunar surface.