'Forgotten' moon landings astronaut says Mars should be next space destination

Revered astronaut Michael Collins, who was on board the Apollo 11 mission to the moon in 1969,  has marked the 50^th anniversary of the iconic moon landing by calling for space agencies to forget about the moon and focus further afield.

In an exclusive interview with 60 Minutes reporter Sarah Abo, Collins says the future of space exploration has to be focused on getting to Mars, instead of replicating past missions to the moon.

“Mars has always been my destination, my favourite one,” he told Abo.

“Going back to the moon is certainly an interesting detour but I would prefer that we just set our sights, set sail directly for Mars.”

NASA is moving forward with future lunar missions, aiming to have astronauts landing on the moon once again in 2024. It comes months after US President Donald Trump publicly declared his hopes of a triumphant American return to the moon.

But Collins says while all space travel is for curiosities sake, the mysteries of Mars should be explored first.

“Flying in space is not necessary I don’t think,” Collins told Abo.

“It’s something that we have in us. Human beings innately have within us… we are curious.”

“[Mars] is the next logical step and I'd like to see us get organised and point in that direction.”

In a candid and rare television interview with 60 Minutes, Collins opened up about his role in the historic 1969 Apollo 11 mission– and his legacy as the third man to go to the moon, without actually stepping foot on its surface.

“Did I have the best seat on Apollo 11? No,” he told Abo.

“Was I happy with the seat I did have? Yes, I really was.”

In July 1969, after the three-day journey to the moon, Armstrong and Aldrin disconnected from the command module that Collins was piloting, descending in a smaller vessel to land on the moon.

For the next 21 hours, while they were collecting moon rocks and making history, Michael continually orbited the moon visiting what’s affectionately known as the dark side of the moon – the side we never see from earth

While he describes his view of the far side of the moon as “rugged”, it was his unique vantage point to see earth that has stayed with him to this day.

“The moon is nothing compared to our home planet,” he said.

“It was a tiny little thing - the blue of the ocean, white of the clouds, little streaks of tan that we call continents.”

The most worrying component of the mission was Michael Collins successfully reconnecting with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s lunar module at the end of the moon landing. A single tricky manoeuvre, but one with devastating ramifications if one wrong decision was made.

“That was the part of it that I worried the most about was if they didn’t get off at all, I couldn’t go and rescue them. I went home by myself,” Collins told Abo.

The reconnection and mission was successful – making history as the first men to ever land on the moon.

While Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became household names following their “..one giant leap for mankind…”, Michael Collins has lived since in relative obscurity.

Much has changed since Michael Collins went to the moon. But the 88-year-old retired astronaut still keeps a keen eye on space travel – and is confident in his predictions for the future.

“Elon Musk I believe wants to get [to Mars] by 2024. I think that's way overly optimistic,” he said.

“I would say probably… mission to Mars by 2040. Go.”

To watch ‘MoonTalker’ in full and for more on 60 Minutes, visit the official website.