History

Rome honours Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins

21 Sep, 2019

Honorary citizenship for Rome-born astronaut.

Rome is set to confer honorary citizenship on astronaut Michael Collins on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, according to an announcement by the city's mayor Virginia Raggi.

Born in the Salaria disrict of Rome in 1930, Collins joined Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969.

While Armstrong and Aldrin were on the moon's surface, Collins flew the command module Columbia alone in lunar orbit.

Paying tribute to Collins' crucial role in the mission, Raggi said that Rome is "honoured to have given birth to one of the protagonists of that unforgettable enterprise."

Collins, whose father was the US military attaché at the American embassy in Rome from 1928 to 1932, was born on Via Tevere where a marble plaque in his honour can be seen today.