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As Eagle began its descent to the lunar surface, Michael Collins, on board the command module Columbia, remained in orbit, on hand to rescue Armstrong and Aldrin if their lunar module failed.

Collins had committed to memory multiple manoeuvres that he could be called upon to perform in an emergency. If something went wrong with the landing, if Armstrong was forced to abort, if the ascent engine malfunctioned, or the guidance system failed, Collins crewmates’ survival would depend almost entirely upon his skills; some of which had only been tested in theory, requiring him to swoop down from high orbit above the Moon to rescue an ailing lunar module.

"I felt very much involved. I felt essential to the safe return of Neil and Buzz. I was gravely concerned from lift off to touch down. The mathematicians came up with conditions, where one malfunction or other would cause one or the other of us to get too high, too low, too slow, too fast .. I ended up with a notebook which I kept tied around my neck which included 18 of those variations. Some of them were so obscure that we had never trained for them." Michael Collins

Photo: Michael Collins in the Command Module simulator Credit: Nasa

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