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Image: NASA
Pilot, astronaut and author Michael Collins passed away on Wednesday at the age of 90. Chosen as one of fourteen members of NASA’s third astronaut group in 1963, Collins first went to space as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 10 mission. He also flew the Apollo 11 mission, piloting the command module while crew members Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took the lunar module to the Moon’s surface. Over the course of his life, Collins, who spent a total of 266 hours in space, was awarded the Presidential Medal for Freedom, Robert J. Collier Trophy, Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy and Harmon International Trophy.