First humans to ever leave Earth's gravity
Posted on 11/10/2023 6:39:42 AM PST by DFG
Astronaut Frank Borman, who commanded Apollo 8's historic Christmas 1968 flight that circled the moon 10 times and paved the way for the lunar landing the next year, has died. He was 95.
Borman died Tuesday in Billings, Montana, according to NASA.
He also led troubled Eastern Airlines in the 1970s and early '80s after leaving the astronaut corps.
But he was best known for his NASA duties. He and his crew, James Lovell and William Anders, were the first Apollo mission to fly to the moon - and to see Earth as a distant sphere in space.
'Today we remember one of NASA´s best. Astronaut Frank Borman was a true American hero,' NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement Thursday.
'His lifelong love for aviation and exploration was only surpassed by his love for his wife Susan.'
Launched from Florida´s Cape Canaveral on December 21, 1968, the Apollo 8 trio spent three days traveling to the moon, and slipped into lunar orbit on Christmas Eve.
After they circled 10 times on December 24-25, they headed home on December 27.
On Christmas Eve, the astronauts read from the Book of Genesis in a live telecast from the orbiter: 'In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.'
Borman ended the broadcast with, 'And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you - all of you on the good Earth.'
Lovell and Borman had previously flown together during the two-week Gemini 7 mission, which launched on December 4, 1965 - and, at only 120 feet apart, completed the first space orbital rendezvous with Gemini 6.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
RIP. He was a hero to me.
RIP
I remember him reading from the Book of Genesis on Christmas Eve 1968 as they circled the Moon...................
The Apollo moon missions remind us once upon a time America aspired to be the best. We were leading the world in so many of the good things. Its been sad to witness how this nation has gone downhill since those heady Mercury/Gemini/Apollo years.
He had quite a life. A real NASA ASTRONAUT. Not one of the space passengers they have today. The same as sending a piece of meat into space to take pictures of the Earth.
He was the only man to go to the Moon TWICE....and never got to land there.
Ad Astra per Aspera
Didn’t he run Eastern Airlines into the ground?
Even though it was Christmas Eve, my dad let me stay up late so I could watch TV and hear the broadcast. I was worried about Santa passing our house if I was awake and my dad told me not to worry because Santa was watching too.
Borman = hero, Nelson = you can go there
“He was the only man to go to the Moon TWICE....and never got to land there.”
Apart from Apollo 8 what was his other mission?
you’re probably referring to Jim Lovell (on the right in the picture), who commanded the ill-fated Apollo 13
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Lovell
“Lovell is one of only three men to travel to the Moon twice, but unlike the other two, John Young and Gene Cernan, he never walked on it”
Must be who he meant.
I listened to the Christmas Eve Bible reading on the car radio live while traveling in the South with my parents to see my brother at an Army base for Christmas 1968. An interesting point of it is that Borman made it to 95; Lovell is still alive at 95 as is Anders at 90. Bible reading must be good for your health and a long life!
I left Cuba when I was 7. Once in a while we would see contrails way up in the sky and my dad would tell me it was Santa checking to see if I was being good.
Most likely US spy planes around the time of the missile crisis, but I was on my best behavior!
RIP... Hero when men were men.
“During airline deregulation in the late 1970s and early 1980s, labor disputes and high debt loads strained the company under the leadership of former astronaut Frank Borman. Frank Lorenzo acquired Eastern in 1985 and moved many of its assets to his other airlines, including Continental Airlines and Texas Air Corporation. After continued labor disputes and a crippling strike in 1989, Eastern ran out of money and was liquidated in 1991.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Air_Lines
“By 1937, Eastern’s route system stretched from New York to Washington, Atlanta, and New Orleans, and from Chicago to Miami. In the same year, it operated 20 daily flights and returns, every hour on the hour, between New York and Washington; the flight time was one hour, twenty minutes, one-way.”
WIKI
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.