Page 29 - Ruth Law

RUTH LAW
DAYTONA'S PIONEER AVIATOR

Michael Collins
1930-

Command Module Pilot

Michael Collins was born in Rome, Italy, to an American
Army Major General. He attended the U.S. Military
Academy at West Point, and joined the Air Force to test
the performance of jet fighters.

In 1962, he joined NASA as an astronaut, and flew as the
Command Module pilot on the trip to the moon.
Separated from earth by 250,000 miles of space, it was
Collins' job to stay in radio communication with mission
control. Michael Collins never walked on the moon.

The astronaut patch of Apollo 11 was designed by Collins
who wanted a symbol for "peaceful lunar landing by the
United States." He chose an eagle as the symbol, put an
olive branch in its beak and drew a moon background
with the earth in the distance. NASA officials said the
talons of the eagle looked too "warlike" and after some
discussion, the olive branch was moved to the claws.
The crew decided the Roman numeral "XI" would not be
understood in some nations and went with Apollo 11.
They decided not to put their names on the patch, so it
would "be representative of everyone who had worked
toward a lunar landing."

Collins became the first director of the National Air and
Space Museum, and undersecretary of the Smithsonian
Institution.

HER PLACE IN AVIATION HISTORY
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