Florida - Thursday November 9, 2023: Frank Borman, who commanded two early NASA missions including the first to orbit the moon, has died at age 95. In a statement, NASA said Borman died Nov. 7 in Billings, Mont. after a stroke. His death comes a week after fellow Apollo astronaut, Ken Mattingly, died.
Borman was NASA's oldest living astronaut, who was best known for his no-nonsense demeanor and who cared more about beating the Soviet Union in the space race than personal glory.
His discipline and attention to detail are two reasons why NASA selected him to be an astronaut in 1962. He first flew in space in 1965 aboard Gemini 7, a grueling 14-day mission to prove that humans could survive in weightless conditions (in the cramped two-person capsule). Instead of selecting another astronaut with space experience, NASA chose Borman to serve as the mission commander.
NASA administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement Thursday, "In addition to his critical role as commander of the Apollo 8 mission, he is a veteran of Gemini 7, spending 14 days in low-Earth orbit and conducting the first rendezvous in space, coming within a few feet of the Gemini 6 spacecraft."
After the Apollo 1 launch pad fire in 1967, NASA tapped Borman to serve on the investigation board to determine the cause of the accident which killed three astronauts. After that, he headed the team that re-engineered the Apollo capsule and allowed NASA to land on the moon in 1969.
So when it was time for NASA's boldest mission — Apollo 8 — there was little doubt that Borman would command it. It was daring — the first time humans left low-Earth orbit and went to the moon, almost a quarter-million miles away.
The crew of Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders arrived on Christmas Eve 1968 and circled the moon 10 times. The world watched in awe during live TV broadcasts that showed the cratered and forebidding lunar landscape and listened in as the astronauts read a passage from the book of Genesis.
What surprised Borman during the mission was not looking down at the moon. But peering back at the planet. "The Earth was the only thing in the world in the universe that had any color. Everything else was black and white but the earth was beautiful blue and white and brownish continents. That was the most impressive sight for me of the entire flight," Borman remembered.
This mission captured the famous earthrise photo, showing the earth rising above the barren and gray moon.
Borman said if he had any regrets about his time in NASA it was how long he was away from family — it averaged 250 days a year.
After NASA, Borman joined Eastern Airlines, eventually becoming its CEO. Borman said he hoped the U.S. would return to the moon one day — and maybe even make it to Mars.