Michael Collins Captured a Famous Photo During Apollo Mission 55 Years Ago After a Historic Flight Around the Dark Side of the Moon.
The photo was taken by Collins – the command module pilot, on July 21, 1969, capturing the moment when the lunar module of NASA’s Apollo 11 mission was 384,400 km away from Earth. Although he could not observe it directly, all of humanity, except for the photographer Collins, are present in the image, according to Live Science.
Photo taken by astronaut Michael Collins during the Apollo mission on July 21, 1969. Image: NASA
One day before this iconic photo was taken, mission commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Eagle lander on the Moon, becoming the first humans to walk on its surface. While they were working, the third crew member, pilot Michael Collins, was waiting for his teammates at an altitude of about 97 km in the command module Columbia, orbiting the Moon alone for 22 hours.
After their moonwalk, Armstrong and Aldrin ignited the ascent stage of the Eagle to dock with the Columbia module in orbit and began their journey back to Earth. As the Eagle flew towards the Columbia, Collins captured the legendary photograph.
The Photo Became Famous for Two Reasons. With Earth rising above the lunar horizon in the background, the image evokes the “Earthrise” photo taken on Christmas Eve the previous year by lunar module pilot Bill Anders during the Apollo 8 mission. Apollo 8 marked the first time humans traveled beyond low Earth orbit, circling the Moon ten times and playing a crucial role in the success of Apollo 11.
Collins’s photo is also significant for another reason. It includes every living being except Collins, who was behind the camera at the time, which is why he has been referred to as the “loneliest man on Earth.” Armstrong and Aldrin were on the Eagle, with Earth behind them, the place where all people and animals live.
Collins once described the moment of solitude during his orbit around the dark side of the Moon in his 1974 book “Carrying the Fire.” “I am alone, truly alone, and completely cut off from any living creature. The ratio is 3 billion people along with 2 people on the other side of the Moon, and one person on this side,” Collins shared. NASA classified the photo as AS11-44-6642HR in the Apollo 11 mission data archive. The image was captured using a Hasselblad camera.
