Moon

Frank Borman, Commander of Apollo 8, Has Passed Away

Published on 10 November 2023

A US Air Force test pilot selected by NASA in 1962, Frank Borman commanded Apollo 8, the first crewed mission around the Moon, six years later. He passed away on November 7, 2023 at the age of 95.

A week after the death of another big name in the American space programme (Ken Mattingly), NASA paid tribute to Frank Borman on November 9, two days after his death at the age of 95. Like Mattingly, Borman is one of twelve people who orbited the Moon without setting foot on it, distinguishing himself by being the commander of the first crewed mission to go so far.

MEETING WITH GEMINI

Born on March 14, 1928 in Gary, Indiana, Frank Borman took his first flying lessons at the age of fifteen. In 1946, he was admitted to the United States Military Academy, commonly known as West Point. He then became a pilot, instructor and then test pilot for the US Air Force. NASA accepted his application for its second selection of astronauts in 1962 .
Three years later, Borman launched into space for the first time as flight commander of the Gemini 7 flight around the Earth with James Lovell as crewmate. Lasting almost fourteen days (from December 4 to 18, 1965), a record at the time, their orbit prepared for the future Apollo Moon missions (eight days for Apollo 11 and twelve for Apollo 17). During this mission, another ship, Gemini 6A with Wally Schirra and Thomas Stafford, came to meet them without actually docking. This space encounter, the first for the Americans, also tested a technique essential to the future Moon programme.

Frank Borman during the Gemini 7 flight in 1965. At almost fourteen days, it was the record duration for an orbital mission.
In the inset, the Gemini 7 capsule of Borman and Lovell photographed from Gemini 6A.
© NASA

In 1967, when the United States Congress looked into the dramatic fire on the Apollo 1 capsule during a ground test (three astronauts dead), Frank Borman defended the programme and many historians believe that his interventions were crucial for the continuation of Apollo.

The Apollo 8 crew in front of their Saturn V rocket coming out of the gigantic VAB hangar at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left to right: Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders.
© NASA

APOLLO 8 AROUND THE MOON

The next year, Frank Borman was named commander of the Apollo mission 8, along with his colleague from Gemini 7, James Lovell. The third astronaut was William Anders. America then feared that the Soviets could once again get ahead of them with a flight around our natural satellite, intelligence services having documented the development of the N1 rocket, similar in performance to Saturn V. The N1 flew four times automatically from 1969 to 1972 with as many failures, but in 1968 it was impossible to predict them.
Borman found himself not only at the head of the first crewed flight on Saturn V , but also the first to transport a crew well beyond Earth’s orbit to orbit the Moon. The three astronauts also became the first men to see with their own eyes (and not via images from robotic probes) the dark side of our celestial neighbour.
Apollo 8 took place from December 21 to 27, 1968, marking the first Christmas in space. On the 24th, Anders, Lovell and Borman took turns in that order reading live a passage from the Book of Genesis in the Bible. While the trio saw this reading as voluntary, it displeased American atheist activist Madalyn Murray O’Hair who took NASA to court for violating the First Amendment (freedom of religion) on the pretext that the space agency thus favoured a specific religion. It was dismissed a few years later by the Supreme Court.

THE EARTH SEEN FROM THE MOON … AND AIRBUS !

Apollo 8 marked a notable success in the American Moon programme, preparing for future missions. In history, it will remain as the first time that humans orbited a celestial body other than the Earth.
It was also the mission that brought back an iconic image, that of a colourful Earth floating above the sterile lunar horizon. We owe it to William Anders even though his commander Frank Borman told him (jokingly) not to take this photo, because it was not included in the programme.
Frank Borman decided that Apollo 8 would be his second and final spaceflight, although he was offered command of Apollo 11. In 1970, he left NASA and moved to the private sector, taking the Chair of the airline Eastern Air Lines. Undertaking a major effort to help it recover, he looked for an aircraft likely to best meet the needs of the company and became interested in the Airbus A300 . Borman played an important role in supporting the advent of this European aircraft to the American market, a choice which subsequently was a game-changer in terms of aviation.

The famous “Earthrise” photographed during Apollo 8. In fact, this rise is an illusion created by the fact that the Apollo spacecraft is orbiting the Moon. The image is considered one of the most striking symbols of the beauty and fragility of the Earth.
© NASA

In 2021, Borman lost Susan, his wife for seventy years. He passed away on November 7, 2023 in Billings, Montana.

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