Astronaut Frank Borman Dies
The sad news came to NASA again. Former astronaut Frank Borman has died. Frank Borman was an astronaut who flew a human mission to the Moon and died at the age of 95.
In a statement, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson expressed his condolences for the loss of a former Apollo astronaut.
 |
| (Photo: HUM Images/Universal Images Group Editorial/Getty Images) |
"Astronaut Frank Borman is a true American hero. Frank knows the exploration of the power it has in uniting humanity when he says, exploration is the core of the human psyche."
Frank Borman became one of the first astronauts to board the Saturn V
As a member of NASA's second-class astronauts, Borman took off twice into space. On his second mission, Apollo 8, he ordered the first crew to orbit the Moon.
Launched on December 21, 1968, Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders became the first astronauts to board the Saturn V, which at the time was the most powerful rocket in the United States.
Also, read: Alan Arkin, Oscar-Winning Actor in 'Little Miss Sunshine, Dies.
The booster's third stage accelerated the Apollo 8 crew from 17,000 to 24,000 miles per hour (27,000 to 39,000 kph), the fastest speed an astronaut has ever made up to that point in history.
"The Saturn V is a unique vehicle," Borman said in a NASA oral history interview in 1999.
According to Borman, the Saturn V is powerful, noisy, vibrating, and the staging is loud. But when it goes up to the third stage, the S-IVB, it's smooth and quiet.
Borman and his crew of two arrived on the Moon three days after leaving Earth. Apollo 8 entered an elliptical orbit that brought its crew as close as 115 miles (185 kilometers) from the Moon's surface.
In the first revolution, Borman, Lovell, and Anders became the first to look directly at the far side of the Moon and then, on exiting from behind the Moon for the fourth time, they became the first to see firsthand "Earthrise."
Following the excitement of seeing planet Earth in a new way, Borman slept for two orbits and then freed up his crewmates to do the same.