Apollo 8 Astronaut Frank Borman, Who Led First Orbit of Moon, Dies at 95

Astronaut Frank Borman, the commander of the historic Apollo 8 Christmas 1968 mission, which orbited the moon 10 times and paved the way for the subsequent lunar landing, passed away at the age of 95. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) reported that he died in Billings, Montana, on November 7.

After concluding his time in the astronaut corps, Borman led Eastern Airlines during the tumultuous period of the 1970s and early ‘80s, according to NASA.

However, he is most renowned for his contributions to NASA. Alongside his crewmates James Lovell and William Anders, Borman played a pivotal role in the first Apollo mission to reach the moon, providing humanity with the first-ever view of Earth as a distant sphere in space.