Share The crew of Apollo 11: from left to right, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. Michael Collins, an Apollo 11 astronaut for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), passed away this past Wednesday at age 90 after a battle with cancer. Collins was affectionately referred to as 'the loneliest man on the planet' for being the command module pilot that flew a solo mission in space while his better-known colleagues, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, set foot on the moon for the first time in history. Portrait of Michael Collins in a spacesuit taken on April 16, 1969, three months before the launch of Apollo 11. Public Domain.