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Frank Borman, commander of the first mission to orbit the Moon, has died
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. “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." (arstechnica.com) More...
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Rest in peace. Inspirational broadcast at Christmas 1968, when the USA was tearing itself apart again.
Had the opportunity today to hear a current NASA Astronaut who just returned from six months on the Space Station
Col Frank Borman is my favorite astronaut: He was under-appreciated post-Apollo8. He took a lot of heat from the atheistic lobby for his bold Christmas message I still get chills listening to. While regaling the American college campuses, my Baby-Boomer-Brat associates greeted him shamefully with rude Hippie-generation anti-establishment scorn. By Franks own words, the coldwar Soviets treated him far more graciously than our countrymen. At Eastern, his elimination of extravagance was leadership by the best example. He also was there in the Everglades leading from the front at the disastrous crash of an L-1011. As a former ALPA member, I heard my Union-leadership much-later admit with regret, “we” pilots, misled by the evil Charlie Bryant, got that one wrong. Bormans handling of the strike was the best anyone could do in those circumstances to save a sinking airline doomed as hopelessly as the Titanic. Do your homework Mr Baker. RIP, Col Borman.
Frank Lorenzo maneuvered Borman out of Eastern and it was Lorenzo who oversaw the strike in ‘85. I still have the VHS tape of Lorenzo’s contract proposal for ALPA to fly through the machinist’s strike. It was total BS. To this day I wonder why he (Lorenzo) didn’t lie through his teeth to get us to break Bryant and the machinist’s (who were clearly out of control), it seemed an easy gig. Had EAL survived, I’d have retired at a seniority number less than 50! Oh well, United treated me very well so I have nothing to complain about and I won’t.
Rest in peace.
So many great airlines gone— Eastern, National, Pan Am, TWA, Braniff, Continental, USAir... I miss the days when Northwest was still Northwest Orient and flight attendants were stewards and stewardesses.
