Frank Borman, NASA Astronaut Who Led First Orbit of the Moon, Dead at 95: ‘True American Hero’

Frank Borman — the former NASA astronaut colonel who commanded the Apollo 8 mission to the moon — has died at the age of 95.

Borman died Nov. 7 in Billings, Montana, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement posted Thursday on NASA’s website. He described the space travel pioneer as “one of NASA’s finest” and praised him for his achievements.

“Astronaut Frank Borman was a true American hero,” Nelson said. “Among his many accomplishments, he served as mission commander of Apollo 8, mankind’s first mission around the moon in 1968.”

“His lifelong love of aviation and research was surpassed only by his love for his wife Susan,” he added.

Frank Borman recorded in 1965.

NASA/ullstein image via Getty

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Born in Gary, Indiana, and raised in Tucson, Arizona, Borman developed a love for aviation at the age of 15, according to his biography on NASA’s official website. He would go on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree from the US Military Academy, West Point, in 1950 and a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 1957.

He initially started his career as an officer in the US Air Force. There, he applied his skills to a variety of roles including fighter pilot, operational pilot and instructor, experimental test pilot, and assistant professor of thermodynamics and fluid mechanics at West Point. The culmination of his work with the Air Force led to him being tapped by NASA.

James Lovell (left), command module pilot; William Anders, Lunar Module Pilot and Frank Borman, Commander, at the Kennedy Space Center on December 18, 1968.

AP photo

“His exceptional experience and expertise led to his being selected by NASA to join another group of astronauts,” Nelson said in his statement.

Borman worked on the Gemini 7 project in 1965, in which he spent “14 days in low Earth orbit” and performed “the first rendezvous in space, coming within a few feet of the Gemini 6 spacecraft,” according to Nelson.

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William Anders (left), James Lovell and Frank Borman in Chicago on April 5, 2018.

JB Spector/Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago/Getty

Two years later, Borman was a member of the Apollo 204 Fire Investigation Committee and helped investigate the cause of the fire that killed three Apollo astronauts. He eventually became the full-time manager of the Apollo program, leading the team that reengineered the Apollo spacecraft and serving as field director of NASA’s Space Station Task Force.

For his efforts at NASA, Borman received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor from the President of the United States. He has also been awarded the Harmon International Aviation Trophy, the Robert J. Collier Trophy, the Tony Jannus Award and the National Geographic Society’s Hubbard Medal. In 1990, along with two other Apollo 8 astronauts, he was inducted into the International Aerospace Hall of Fame. Three years later, he was admitted to the American Astronaut Hall of Fame.

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Frank Borman in Chicago on April 5, 2018.

JB Spector/Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago/Getty

Borman retired from the Air Force in 1970, taking his aviation knowledge to Eastern Airlines, where he became a consultant in early 1969, rose to CEO in 1975 and became chairman just a year later. He eventually retired from the airline in 1986.

“Frank knew the power of research to unify humanity when he said, ‘Research is really the essence of the human spirit,'” Nelson said. “His service to NASA and our nation will undoubtedly inspire the Artemis generation to reach new cosmic shores.”

He left behind his wife Susan and two sons, Frederick and Edwin.

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