Statement from Apollo 11 Astronaut Michael Collins
Source: Michael Collins, NASA Excerpt: Q. Circling the lonely moon by yourself, the loneliest person in the universe, weren't you lonely? A. No. "Far from feeling lonely or abandoned, I feel very much a part of what is taking place on the lunar surface. I know that I would be a liar or a fool if I said that I have the best of the three Apollo 11 seats, but I can say with truth and equanimity that I am perfectly satisfied with the one I have. ... I don't mean to deny a feeling of solitude. It is there, reinforced by the fact that radio contact with the Earth abruptly cuts off at the instant I disappear behind the moon, I am alone now, truly alone, and absolutely isolated from any known life. I am it. ...." www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/jul/HQ_09-164_Collins_statement.html