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Apollo 11 astronaut returns to launch site

17 July 2019 02:01 (UTC +04:00)

One of the surviving crew members of the first manned mission to the Moon - Apollo 11 - has returned to the site where the mission set off 50 years ago, APA reports citing BBC.

Michael Collins, 88, visited Florida's Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday. He marked the precise time - 09:32 (13:32 GMT) - when their rocket took off.

Mr Collins had stayed in lunar orbit while his colleagues Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon.

Tuesday's meeting kicked off a series of commemorative events across the US.

Mr Collins was the only original member of the three-person crew at the event - Mr Aldrin, 89, did not attend, while Mr Armstrong, who was their commander, died in 2012.

Speaking at launchpad 39A - where the crew's powerful rocket made history on 16 July 1969 - Mr Collins described how he felt during take-off.

"The shockwave from the rocket power hits you," he told Nasa TV. "Your whole body is shaking. This gives you an entirely... different concept of what power really means."

"You're suspended in the cockpit... as you lift off," he continued. "From then on it's a quieter, more rational, silent ride all the way to the moon.

"We crew felt the weight of the world on our shoulders, we knew that everyone would be looking at us, friend or foe."

He added that he wished his fellow astronauts could have joined him at the site.