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He wasn't on the moon, but he helped shape Apollo 11's history

Michael Collins, 88, stayed in orbit while Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong made their historic steps on the moon in 1969.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — We've heard of Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, the two U.S. astronauts who first landed on the moon back in 1969. But there's one astronaut who was also on the historic Apollo 11 trip that happened 50 years ago.

Michael Collins, 88, spent more than 600 hours in the simulator preparing for the mission along with Aldrin and Armstrong.

On Tuesday, he recalled the moment of lift-off while answering questions for the director of the Kennedy Space Center, Bob Cabana.

"Inside, you aren't worried about your power so much as you are worried about your steering," he said. 

He said risks of the mission were throughout the entire journey in orbit. 

"For me at least, the flight was a question of being under tension, worrying about what's coming next," he said. "What do I have to do now?"

Collins never made it to the moon's surface. Instead, he remained in orbit as Aldrin and Armstrong made their historical steps.

Even so, without Collins, history may have been written differently.

"I was always asked wasn't I the loneliest person in the whole lonely history of the whole lonely solar system when I was by myself in that lonely orbit?," he said. "The answer was no. I felt fine!"

Credit: NASA, Getty Images

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