He was ‘forgotten’ astronaut of Apollo 11 during the first lunar landing mission in1969. His family informed that he was suffering from cancer and shared this news on his official Facebook page.

"We regret to share that our beloved father and grandfather passed away today, after a valiant battle with cancer," the statement read.

Collins was born in Italy. At the beginning of his career he was an Air Force pilot. After that he joined in the Gemini program as an astronaut. NASA said that Collings logged 266 hours in space including Apollo 11.