Frank Borman obituary!

Astronaut Frank Borman, who led the first mission in lunar orbit, has died.

“Today we commemorate one of NASA’s best. Astronaut Frank Borman was a true American hero. Among his many accomplishments is serving as the commander of Apollo 8, humanity’s first mission around the Moon, in 1968” NASA said in a statement.

“In addition to his critical role as commander of the Apollo 8 mission, he was a veteran of Gemini 7. He spent 14 days in low Earth orbit and came within a few meters of the Gemini 6 spacecraft, making the first rendezvous in space” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in the statement.

Borman, who was pronounced dead on November 7, was also a member of the Apollo 204 review board, which investigated the fire that killed three astronauts aboard Apollo I in 1967. Borman later led the team that redesigned the Apollo spacecraft.

After his NASA career, Borman continued his career as CEO of Eastern Airlines.

MATTINGLY DIED LAST WEEK TOO

Recently, one of the Apollo astronauts, Thomas K. Mattingly II, passed away at the age of 87.

Born in Chicago on March 17, 1936, Mattingly earned a degree in Aeronautical Engineering at Auburn University in 1958 after graduating high school in Miami, according to his biography at NASA.

Mattingly, who started his career in the US Navy, later joined the Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School as a student, and was selected for the astronaut class by NASA in 1966.

His most dramatic role at NASA was when he fell ill just before the launch of Apollo 13. That’s why he stayed behind. During this flight, which he was unable to participate in, an explosion occurred in the spacecraft 2 days after the launch, resulting in the loss of oxygen stocks of the service module and a power outage.

Mattingly, who could not go on duty due to his illness, was the name that successfully brought the spacecraft and the Apollo 13 crew, consisting of James Lovel, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise, home with the decisions he made.

When this event was made into a movie, Mattingly was played by actor Gary Sinise.