40 Years after Apollo 11: July 12

Originally written on July 12th, 2009…

That’s Mike Collins on the left, and Cheif Astronaut Deke Slayton on the right as they walk away from a T-38 training jet.

Deke was in charge of deciding who would go on which mission. He was one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, but he didn’t get to fly due to a heart problem. He finally flew in space on the Apollo/Soyuz test mission in 1975. It was the first time spaceships from two different countries docked in space.

Mike Collins would soon be the most alone Human in history. He would be orbiting the Moon alone while Buzz and Neil flew down to the surface. And he knew that if something bad happened down there, if the LM crashed or couldn’t come back up to lunar orbit, that he would be going home alone.