The Gemini and Apollo veteran passed away this morning.

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air . . .

Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

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I love sanding.

So very sad to hear of another Apollo astronaut's passing. Collins was probably the very best writer amongst the astronauts. If you have not read his book "Carrying the Fire", it is a must read for fans of the space age and Apollo in general.

This must have just broken as news. I was online just a little after noon and there was nothing on the news web sites.

I met Mr. Collins at the Apollo 11 25th anniversary gala in Washington, DC in 1994. We were only able to chat briefly, but he was very cordial and nice, considering I was no one special and he was one of the 'guests of honor'. On another occasion at KSC I was able to meet his two crew mates for Apollo 11. I consider myself very, very fortunate for having been able to meet all three.

Rest well, Mike...you can now walk those same places that Neil and Buzz walked so many years ago and travel and see sights that are beyond our human understanding.

We all salute you.

Earl

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Earl L. Cagle, Jr.
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Owner/Producer
Point 39 Productions

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

Major bummer.

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Apparently Michael Collins was a fan of model rocketry and Star Trek and was involved in the development of the Estes USS Enterprise and Klingon Ship models. I just found that out today when reading about his passing elsewhere.

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Clubs: BARC, MDRA

Rip Michael!

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If it flies, I can crash it!

I am wondering if that was through his position as the head of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum at the time Estes was developing those two models? As I recall, the Star Trek special effects models were in possession of the museum.

Earl

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Earl L. Cagle, Jr.
NAR# 29523
TRA# 962
SAM# 73
Owner/Producer
Point 39 Productions

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

Here is a link to NASA’s tribute page to Collins.

Link: https://www.nasa.gov/michael-collins


Earl

__________________
Earl L. Cagle, Jr.
NAR# 29523
TRA# 962
SAM# 73
Owner/Producer
Point 39 Productions

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

I didn't know that Michael Collins had helped Estes develop those kits (but the studio model of the starship Enterprise--and perhaps also other Star Trek starship studio models--is in the museum's collection), and Buzz Aldrin's Star Booster came close to being depicted as an Estes kit (it was shown on the back cover of the 1997 Estes catalog). In several editions of G. Harry Stine's "Handbook of Model Rocketry," there is a picture of Michael Collins--in his capacity as Director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum--holding an Estes Camroc/Delta model rocket (the NASM has numerous model rockets in its collection). He apparently was a fan of model rocketry (if not an active space modeler, which he may have been; I just don't know) going way back, and:

It's strange; I was thinking about Michael Collins just yesterday, and this afternoon I heard on the radio news that he had died. He was the most poetic of the Apollo 11 crew, and he wrote a dedication to Columbia (the Command Module) on its wall (or side hatch) not long after the spacecraft was berthed aboard the U.S.S. Hornet. My uncle Dan, who worked in the Gemini through Shuttle & ISS programs at Boeing, got Michael, Buzz, and Neil--and Wernher von Braun--to autograph his Apollo 11 launch orders (among other things, he developed a gaseous hydrogen leak detector, which was used to detect any hydrogen between the Saturn IBs' and Saturn Vs' stages).

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That leaves Buzz and he is still going strong.

At this rate, he may outlive me.


Bill

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Re Michael Collins, Star Trek, and Estes models

https://www.facebook.com/groups/mod...19962821380561/

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Clubs: BARC, MDRA