Who was the command module pilot of Apollo 11?

Michael Collins was the command module pilot of Apollo 11. While Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descended to the lunar surface in the lunar module Eagle, Collins remained alone in the command module Columbia, orbiting the Moon.

Collins launched with Armstrong and Aldrin on July 16, 1969. After the lunar module separated, he continued flying Columbia around the Moon, conducting checks and preparing for the rendezvous that would reunite the crew after the surface expedition.

Because Columbia passed behind the Moon on each orbit, Collins temporarily lost radio contact with Earth. During those periods he was the only human being not either on Earth or on the lunar surface. He completed 30 lunar orbits while Armstrong and Aldrin explored the Moon.

A common mix-up is to associate the command module pilot with the astronauts who landed. Armstrong was the mission commander, and Aldrin was the lunar module pilot. Collins’s role was essential: without his orbital flight and later rendezvous with Eagle, the astronauts could not have returned safely to Earth.