Frank Borman, Commander of Apollo 8, Dies At 95

Long-time Slashdot reader HanzoSpam shares a report from Ars Technica: Frank Borman, an Air Force test pilot, astronaut, and accomplished businessman who led the first crew to fly to the Moon in 1968, died Tuesday in Montana, NASA said Thursday. He was 95 years old. Borman, joined by crewmates Jim Lovell and Bill Anders, orbited the Moon 10 times over the course of about 20 hours. They were the first people to see the Earth from another world, a memory of "wonderment" Borman recalled decades later. Apollo 8 produced one of the most famous photos ever taken, the iconic "Earthrise" showing a blue orb -- the setting for all of human history until then -- suspended in the blackness of space over the charcoal gray of the Moon's cratered surface.

Borman was born in Gary, Indiana, on March 14, 1928, and raised in Tucson, Arizona. He learned to fly airplanes as a teenager, then attended the US Military Academy at West Point before earning his commission in the Air Force to start training as a fighter pilot. Following a similar career path as other early astronauts, Borman became an experimental test pilot, receiving a master's degree in aeronautical engineering from Caltech, and served a stint as an assistant professor at West Point. NASA accepted applications for a second class of astronauts in 1962 to follow the original Mercury Seven. Borman was one of the "New Nine" astronauts, and he reported for training in Houston. "Today we remember one of NASA's best," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. "Astronaut Frank Borman was a true American hero. Among his many accomplishments, he served as the commander of the Apollo 8 mission, humanity's first mission around the Moon in 1968."

Another one?

[Opportunist]

Is it me or do a lot of Apollo astronauts die lately?

I mean, sure, they have reached the decommissioning age, but it's kinda, well, many lately.

Re:

[Mr. Dollar Ton]

You'll be surprised in another few years... Or some of the people who knew you will be.

Re:

[newbie_fantod]

Being in your mid 80's means being in Life's Death-Zone

Re:

[RUs1729]

What I find remarkable is not that they are dying. What is remarkable is what long lives most of them seem to have had.

XKCD might help explain recent astronaut deaths

[twosat]

https://www.explainxkcd.com/wi... [explainxkcd.com]

Re:

[93 Escort Wagon]

So they were murdered by Randall Munroe. Got it.

Re:

[Mr. Dollar Ton]

Very strange starting date, given most of them were born in the 1930s.

Re:

[Malenfrant]

It doesn't matter when they were born. None of them had walked on the moon before july 20th 1969, so starting before then would be a bit weird.

Re:

[Mr. Dollar Ton]

Age is the thing that matters here, silly. If the average age of someone walking on the moon in 1970 wasn't 40, but 25, you could expect them to last 15 more years.

Re:

[Malenfrant]

Prior to 1969 there were zero Humans who had walked on the moon. Their age at the point they first walked on the moon is irrelevant to the start point. It only matters for the end point, the bit where their deaths either happeneed or are predicted to happen. That is correct for the years of their births, which is relevant for the end point but most certainly not for the start point.

Re: XKCD might help explain recent astronaut death

[HammerOn1024]

It is a well chosen date as that is the year the first two humans landed and walked on the moon. It is an age independent date as it is the initiating event. The decending lines are age related based on life expectence. Ask an insurance actuarial for details.

Re:

[Mr. Dollar Ton]

Assuming that death of old age is "age independent" is the most amusing thing I've heard today. Thanks, actuarial.

Re:

[istartedi]

Limited sample size of course, but these astronauts are telling us at least a little something about the impact of deep space travel on health. They're literally our only data. At least we know that transient exposure to the associated cosmic rays and other radiation doesn't appear to impact long term health dramatically. James Irwin was the first to die, of a heart attack at a somewhat young age, apparently unrelated to space travel. The wiki bio says doctors had noted arrhythmia after exercise. That'

I feel old. These deaths get to me

[Miles_O'Toole]

I've been a science geek for too long. I got to see Armstrong set foot on the moon, and hear his famous quote. My sister and I were allowed to stay up, even though the next day was a school day. I will never forget that moment.

The read quote from Genesis

[rossdee]

When they came out from behind the moon the crew read the first verse of Genesis over the radio to the people back on Earth

Apollo 8, remember it well

[p51d007]

Nine year old kid, watching uncle Walter on CBS. Hearing Capcom after the broadcast saying Thank you Apollo 8, you saved 1968. The USS Pueblo is captured by North Korea, The Tet Offensive begins in Vietnam, President Johnson did not seek re-election, Martin Luther King, Jr. is shot and killed, Robert F. Kennedy is shot at the Ambassador Hotel, Democratic Convention protests become a battle with police

Later on...

[Chris Mattern]

..he went on to run Eastern Airlines. That didn't turn out so well...(though it didn't really seem to be Borman's fault)

Re:

[dh0dges]

Eastern and its unions worked on that for years before Borman.