Famed Apollo astronaut Michael Collins will be the featured guest at EAA AirVenture 2019’s commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s landing on the Sea of Tranquility. Collins will be joined by Joe Engle, another Apollo alumnus, but who never flew in that program. Engle did fly on the Space Shuttle and is the last living X-15 pilot. A second shuttle pilot, Charlie Precourt, will host the event, to be held on July 26 at AirVenture.
“Even a half-century later, the Apollo 11 mission stands as one of the great human achievements of all time,” said Rick Larsen, who coordinates AirVenture features and attractions. Collins, you may recall, was the command module pilot of Apollo 11’s Colombia and orbited the moon in solitude while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin completed the first manned lunar landing on July 20, 1969. The Colombia was the only major piece of flight hardware to return intact to earth.
Collins, who once famously said he gave Apollo 11’s chances of success as 50/50, attended West Point and flew F-86 Sabres in the U.S. Air Force. Post-NASA, he served as director of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum for seven years. He has also written widely, including 1974’s Carrying the Fire, documenting his experiences in the space program.
