View source for Frank Borman

{{Short description|American astronaut and lunar explorer (1928–2023)}}
{{featured article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2019}}
{{Infobox astronaut
|name          = Frank Borman
|image         = Astronaut Frank Borman.jpg
|caption       = Borman in 1964
|birth_name    = Frank Frederick Borman II
|birth_date    = {{birth date|1928|3|14}}
|birth_place   = [[Gary, Indiana]], U.S.
|death_date    = {{death date and age|2023|11|7|1928|3|14}}
|death_place   = [[Billings, Montana]], U.S.
|restingplace  = [[West Point Cemetery]]
|spouse        = {{marriage|Susan Bugbee|1950|2021|end=died}}
|children      = 2
|education     = [[United States Military Academy]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])<br>[[California Institute of Technology]] ([[Master of Science|MS]])
|awards        = {{plainlist|
* [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]]
* [[Air Force Distinguished Service Medal]]
* [[Legion of Merit]]
* [[Congressional Space Medal of Honor]]
* [[NASA Distinguished Service Medal]]
* [[NASA Exceptional Service Medal]]}}
|type          = [[NASA astronaut]]
|rank          = [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]], [[United States Air Force|USAF]]
|selection     = [[NASA Astronaut Group 2|NASA Group 2 (1962)]]
|space_time    = 19d 21h 35m
|missions      = [[Gemini 7]]<br>[[Apollo 8]]
|insignia      = [[File:Gemini VII patch.png|48px]] [[File:Apollo-8-patch.png|56px]]
|retirement    = July 1, 1970
}}
'''Frank Frederick Borman II''' (March 14, 1928 – November 7, 2023) was an American [[United States Air Force]] (USAF) [[colonel (United States)|colonel]], [[aeronautical engineer]], [[NASA astronaut]], [[test pilot]], and businessman. He was the commander of [[Apollo 8]], the first mission to fly around the Moon, and together with crewmates [[Jim Lovell]] and [[William Anders]], became the [[List of Apollo astronauts#Apollo astronauts who flew to the Moon without landing|first of 24 humans to do so]], for which he was awarded the [[Congressional Space Medal of Honor]].

Four days before he graduated with the [[West Point]] Class of 1950, in which he was ranked eighth out of 670, Borman was commissioned in the USAF. He qualified as a [[fighter pilot]] and served in the Philippines. He earned a [[Master of Science]] degree at [[Caltech]] in 1957, and then became an assistant professor of [[thermodynamics]] and [[fluid mechanics]] at West Point. In 1960, he was selected for Class 60-C at the [[USAF Experimental Flight Test Pilot School]] at [[Edwards Air Force Base]] in California and qualified as a test pilot. On graduation, he was accepted as one of five students in the first class at the [[Aerospace Research Pilot School]].

Borman was selected as a NASA astronaut with the second group, known as the [[Next Nine]], in 1962. In 1966, he set a fourteen-day spaceflight endurance record as commander of [[Gemini 7]]. He served on the NASA review board which investigated the [[Apollo 1]] fire, and then flew to the Moon with Apollo 8 in December 1968. The mission is known for the ''[[Earthrise]]'' photograph taken by Anders of the Earth rising above the lunar horizon as the [[Command/Service Module]] orbited the Moon, and for [[Apollo 8 Genesis reading|the reading from Genesis]], which was televised to Earth from [[lunar orbit]] on Christmas Eve. During the [[Apollo 11]] Moon landing mission, he was the NASA liaison at the [[White House]], where he viewed the launch on television with President [[Richard Nixon]].

After retiring from NASA and the Air Force in 1970, Borman became senior vice president for operations at [[Eastern Air Lines]]. He became chief executive officer of Eastern in 1975, and [[chairman of the board]] in 1976. Under his leadership, Eastern went through the four most profitable years in its history, but [[airline deregulation]] and the additional debt that it took on to purchase new aircraft led to pay cuts and layoffs, and ultimately to conflict with unions, resulting in his resignation in 1986. He moved to [[Las Cruces, New Mexico]], where he ran a [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] dealership with his son, Fred. In 1998, they bought a cattle ranch in [[Bighorn, Montana]].

== Early life and education ==
Frank Frederick Borman II was born on March 14, 1928, at 2162 West 11th Avenue in [[Gary, Indiana]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26978804/the_times/ |title=What Borman Highway? |newspaper=The Times |location=Munster, Indiana |date=July 10, 1969 |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=January 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108100839/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26978804/the_times/ |archive-date=January 8, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> the only child of Edwin Otto Borman (1901–1994), who owned an [[Oldsmobile]] car dealership there, and his wife Marjorie Ann Borman ([[née]] Pearce; 1903–1989), who named him after his paternal grandfather. He was of [[German Americans|German]] descent.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=13–15}} His great-grandfather Christopher Borman immigrated from Germany in the late 19th century and worked as a tuba player in a traveling circus.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pete |first=Joseph |date=2023-11-10 |title=Late astronaut Frank Borman, a Gary native, took Region to new heights |url=https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/late-astronaut-frank-borman-a-gary-native-took-region-to-new-heights/article_6935a1c6-7f7f-11ee-994c-77c74592d160.html |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=nwitimes.com |language=en}}</ref> Because he suffered from numerous [[Maxillary sinus|sinus]] and [[Mastoid cells|mastoid]] problems in the cold and damp weather, his family moved to the better climate of [[Tucson, Arizona]], which Borman considered his hometown. His father bought a lease on a [[Mobil]] service station.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=13–15}}

Borman attended Sam Hughes Elementary School in Tucson, where he played soccer and baseball. He then went to Mansfeld Junior High School, where he tried out for the [[American football|football]] team. He was not good enough, so he formed his own team with some local boys, sponsored by a local jewelry store. He earned some money with a newspaper route, delivering copies of the ''[[Arizona Daily Star]]''.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=13–15}}

After Mansfeld, Borman went on to [[Tucson High Magnet School|Tucson High School]], where he was an honor student. He played [[quarterback]] on the [[junior varsity team]], and then became the second-string quarterback on the [[Varsity team#Junior varsity|varsity team]]. The first-string quarterback broke his arm during the first game, and was out for most of the season. Although every one of the four [[forward pass]]es he attempted that year was [[incomplete pass|incomplete]], the team went on to win the state championship. He also started dating Susan Bugbee, a [[sophomore]] at his school.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=20–23}}<ref name="Daily Citizen">{{cite news |title=Frank Borman now at U.S. Military Academy |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35486008/ |access-date=September 1, 2019 |newspaper=Tucson Daily Citizen |location=Tucson, Arizona |date=July 3, 1946 |page=12 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901075837/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35486008// |archive-date=September 1, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

After the United States entered [[World War II]] in 1941, his parents found work at a new [[Convair|Consolidated Vultee]] aircraft factory in Tucson.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=13–15}} His first ride in an airplane had been when he was five years old.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=13–15}} He learned to fly at the age of 15,<ref name="nmmuseum">{{cite web |url=http://www.nmspacemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.php?id=60 |title=Commanded Apollo 8, first mission to circumnavigate the Moon |publisher=New Mexico Museum of Space History |access-date=December 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180912131045/http://www.nmspacemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.php?id=60 |archive-date=September 12, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> taking lessons with a female instructor, Bobbie Kroll, at Gilpin Field. When he obtained his student pilot certificate, he joined a local flying club.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=19–20}} He also built model airplanes out of [[Ochroma|balsa wood]].{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=24–25}}

[[File:Frank Borman as a West Point cadet.png|thumb|right|upright|As a West Point cadet]]
Borman was helping a friend build model planes, when his friend's father asked him about his plans for the future. Borman told him that he wanted to go to college and study [[Aerospace engineering|aeronautical engineering]], but his parents did not have the money to send him to an out-of-state university, and neither the [[University of Arizona]] nor [[Arizona State University]] offered top-notch courses in aeronautical engineering at that time. His football skills were insufficient to secure an athletic scholarship, and he lacked the political connections to secure an appointment to the [[United States Military Academy]] at [[West Point, New York|West Point]]. He therefore planned to join the Army, which would allow him to qualify for free college tuition under the [[G.I. Bill]].{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=24–25}}

His friend's father told him that he knew [[Richard F. Harless]], the [[Member of congress|congressman]] who represented [[Arizona]]. Harless already had a principal nominee for West Point, but Borman's friend's father convinced Harless to list Borman as a third alternative. Borman took the West Point entrance examination, but since his chances of a West Point appointment were slim, he also took the Army physical, and passed both. But the end of the war had changed attitudes towards joining the military, and the three nominees ahead of him all dropped out. Instead of reporting to [[Fort MacArthur]] on graduation from high school, he went to West Point.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=24–25}}<ref name="Daily Citizen" />

Borman entered West Point on July 1, 1946, with the Class of 1950.{{sfn|Cullum|1950|p=1572}} It was a difficult year to enter. Many members of the class were older than he, and had seen active service in World War II. [[Hazing]] by the upperclassmen was common. Another challenge was learning how to swim. He tried out for the plebe football team; his skills were insufficient, but head coach [[Earl Blaik]] took him on as an assistant manager.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=27–30}} In his final year, Borman was a cadet captain, commanding his company, and manager of the varsity football team.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=35–36}}

Borman chose to be commissioned as a [[second lieutenant]] in the [[United States Air Force]] (USAF) on June 2, 1950.{{sfn|Cullum|1950|p=1572}} Before the [[United States Air Force Academy]] was built, the USAF was authorized to accept up to a quarter of each West Point graduating class.{{sfn|Mitchell|1996|pp=60–61}} So that USAF officers graduating from West Point had equal seniority with those graduating from the [[United States Naval Academy]], the entire class was commissioned four days ahead of their graduation. Borman graduated with a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree on June 6, 1950, ranked eighth in his class of 670.{{sfn|Cullum|1950|p=1572}}

Borman drove back to Tucson with his parents in his brand-new [[Oldsmobile 88]] for the traditional sixty-day furlough after graduation. He had split up with Susan while he was at West Point, but had since reconsidered. She had earned a dental hygiene degree at the [[University of Pennsylvania]], and was planning to commence a liberal arts degree at the University of Arizona. He persuaded her to see him again, and proposed to her. She accepted, and they were married on July 20, 1950, at [[St. Philip's in the Hills Episcopal Church]] in Tucson.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=37–39}}

== Air Force ==
After a brief honeymoon in [[Phoenix, Arizona]], Borman reported to [[Perrin Air Force Base]] in [[Texas]] for basic flight training in a [[North American T-6 Texan]] in August 1950. The top students in the class had the privilege of choosing which branch of flying they would pursue; Borman elected to become a [[fighter pilot]].{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=42–43}} He was therefore sent to [[Williams Air Force Base]], near Phoenix, in February 1951 for advanced training,{{sfn|Cullum|1960|p=571}} initially in the [[North American T-28 Trojan]], and then the [[Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star|F-80]] jet fighter. Fighter pilots were being sent to [[Korea]], where the [[Korean War]] had broken out the year before. He asked for, and was assigned to, [[Luke Air Force Base]] near Phoenix—Susan was eight months pregnant—but at the last minute his orders were changed to [[Nellis Air Force Base]] in [[Nevada]]. There, he practiced aerial bombing and gunnery. His first child, a son called Frederick Pearce, was born there in October. Borman received his [[U.S. Air Force aeronautical rating|pilot wings]] on December 4, 1951.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=45–48}}

[[File:NF-104.jpg|thumb|left|upright|To acquaint Aerospace Research Pilot School students with some of the techniques of space flight, three F-104s were fitted with rocket motors and reaction controls for use beyond the atmosphere.]]
Soon after, Borman suffered a [[perforated eardrum]] while practicing [[Dive bomber|dive bombing]] with a bad head cold. Instead of going to Korea, he was ordered to report to [[Camp Stoneman]], from whence he boarded a troop transport, the {{USNS|Fred C. Ainsworth|T-AP-181|6}} on December 20, 1951, bound for the Philippines. Susan sold the Oldsmobile to buy air tickets to join him. He was assigned to the [[44th Fighter-Bomber Squadron]], which was based at [[Clark Air Base]], and commanded by Major [[Charles McGee (Tuskegee Airman)|Charles McGee]], a veteran fighter pilot. Initially, Borman was restricted to non-flying duties due to his eardrum; although it had healed, the base doctors feared it would rupture again if he flew. He persuaded McGee to take him for flights in a T-6, and then a [[Lockheed T-33]], the trainer version of the Shooting Star. This convinced the doctors, and Borman's flight status was restored on September 22, 1952.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=48–53}} His second son, Edwin Sloan, was born at Clark in July 1952.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|p=56}}

Borman returned to the United States, where he became a jet instrument [[flight instructor]] at [[Moody Air Force Base]] in [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], mainly in the T-33. In 1955, he secured a transfer to Luke Air Force Base. Most of his flying was in F-80s, [[Republic F-84 Thunderjet|F-84s]], [[swept-wing]] [[Republic F-84F Thunderstreak|F-84Fs]] and T-33s.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=62–65}} In 1956, he received orders to join the faculty at West Point, after first completing a master's degree in aeronautical engineering. Not wanting to spend two years qualifying for a non-flying posting that could last for another three years, he searched for a master's degree course that took only one year, and settled on the one at the [[California Institute of Technology]]. He received his [[Master of Science]] degree in [[Aerospace engineering|aeronautical engineering]] in June 1957,{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=66–68}} and then became an assistant professor of [[thermodynamics]] and [[fluid mechanics]] at West Point, where he served until 1960.<ref name="a204">{{cite web |url=https://history.nasa.gov/Apollo204/borman.html |title=Frank Borman, Colonel, USAF |publisher=NASA |access-date=January 31, 2018 |date=February 3, 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225233802/https://history.nasa.gov/Apollo204/borman.html |archive-date=December 25, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> He found he enjoyed teaching, and was still able to fly a T-33 from [[Stewart Air Force Base]] on weekends.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=66–68}} One summer he also attended the [[USAF Survival School]] at [[Stead Air Force Base]] in Nevada.<ref name="bios" />

In June 1960, Borman was selected for Class 60-C at the [[U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School|USAF Experimental Flight Test Pilot School]] at [[Edwards Air Force Base]] in California, and became a [[test pilot]]. His class, which included [[Michael Collins (astronaut)|Michael Collins]] and [[James B. Irwin]], who also later became [[astronaut]]s, graduated on April 21, 1961.{{sfn|Eppley|1963|p=26}} [[Thomas P. Stafford]], another future astronaut, was one of the instructors.{{sfn|Eppley|1963|p=17}} On graduation, Borman was accepted as one of five students in the first class at the [[Aerospace Research Pilot School]], a postgraduate school for test pilots to prepare them to become astronauts. Fellow members of the class included future astronaut [[Jim McDivitt]].{{sfn|Butz|1963|pp=56–57}} Classes included a course on [[orbital mechanics]] at the [[University of Michigan]], and there were [[zero-G]] flights in modified [[Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker]] and [[Convair C-131 Samaritan]] aircraft. Borman introduced training with the [[Lockheed F-104 Starfighter]]. It would be flown up to {{convert|70000|ft}}, where the engine would cut out for lack of oxygen, and then coast up to {{convert|90000|ft}}. This would be followed by a powerless descent, and restarting the engine on the way down. A [[pressure suit]] was required.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=79–83}}

On April 18, 1962, [[NASA]] formally announced that it was accepting applications for a new group of astronauts who would assist the [[Mercury Seven]] astronauts selected in 1959 with [[Project Mercury]], and join them in flying [[Project Gemini]] missions.{{sfn|Burgess|2013|pp=5–6}} The USAF conducted its own internal selection process, and submitted the names of eleven candidates.{{sfn|Burgess|2013|pp=10–11}} It ran them through a brief training course in May 1962 on how to speak and conduct themselves during the NASA selection process. The candidates called it a "charm school".{{sfn|Stafford|Cassutt|2002|p=36}} Borman's selection as one of the [[Next Nine]] was publicly announced on September 17, 1962.{{sfn|Burgess|2013|pp=64–66}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33352619/the_tampa_tribune/ |title=Here are the Next Nine Astronauts Who Will Join in U.S. Race to the Moon |newspaper=The Tampa Tribune |location=Tampa, Florida |date=September 18, 1962 |page=4 |via=Newspapers.com |agency=United Press International |access-date=June 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629071137/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33352619/the_tampa_tribune/ |archive-date=June 29, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Chuck Yeager]], the commandant of the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards, told him: "you can kiss your godamned Air Force career goodbye."{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|p=91}} During his Air Force service, Borman logged 3,600 hours of flying time, of which 3,000 was in jet aircraft.<ref name="bios">{{cite news |newspaper=NASA Roundup |volume=1 |issue=24 |date=September 19, 1962 |pages=1, 4–5 |title=MSC Names Nine New Pilot Trainees |url=https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/roundups/issues/62-09-19.pdf |location=Houston, Texas |access-date=May 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506210431/https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/roundups/issues/62-09-19.pdf |archive-date=May 6, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== NASA ==
Borman moved with his family to [[Houston]], Texas, where the [[Manned Spacecraft Center]] (MSC) was still being established, and signed his first [[home construction]] contract, for $26,500 ({{Inflation|US|26500|1962|fmt=eq|r=-3}}).{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|p=97}} Following the precedent set by the Mercury Seven, each of the Nine was assigned a special area in which to develop expertise that could be shared with the others, and to provide astronaut input to the designers and engineers.{{sfn|Slayton|Cassutt|1994|p=123}} Borman's assignment was the [[Titan II]] booster used by Project Gemini, although he had no experience in that area.<ref name="oral">{{cite web |title=Frank Borman Oral History |work=NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project |first=Catherine |last=Harwood |date=April 13, 1999 |publisher=NASA |url=https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/BormanF/Bormanff_4-13-99.htm |access-date=May 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423051915/https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/BormanF/Bormanff_4-13-99.htm |archive-date=April 23, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> The assignment involved many trips to the [[Martin Marietta]] plants in [[Denver]], Colorado, and [[Baltimore]], Maryland, where the Titan IIs were built. His responsibility included the [[Emergency Detection System]] (EDS) developed for an abort situation. Borman agreed with [[Wernher von Braun]] that reliance would have to be placed on automated systems in situations where human reaction time would not be fast enough. This was much to the consternation of old hands like [[Warren J. North]],{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=98–100}} the NASA Chief of the Flight Crew Support Division,{{sfn|Slayton|Cassutt|1994|p=142}} who did not accept the notion that an automated system was superior to the skill of a human being.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=98–100}}

There was also classroom work. Initially, each of the astronauts was given four months of classroom instruction on subjects such as [[spacecraft propulsion]], orbital mechanics, [[astronomy]], [[computing]], and [[space medicine]]. There was also familiarization with the Gemini spacecraft, Titan II and [[SM-65 Atlas|Atlas]] boosters, and the [[Agena target vehicle]].{{sfn|Burgess|2013|p=165}} Jungle survival training was conducted at the USAF Tropic Survival School at [[Albrook Air Force Station]] in Panama, desert survival training at Stead Air Force Base in Nevada, and water survival training on the [[Dilbert Dunker]] at the [[Naval Air Station Pensacola]] in Florida and on [[Galveston Bay]].{{sfn|Burgess|2013|pp=170–174}} There were fifty hours of instruction in geology, with field trips to the [[Grand Canyon]] and [[Meteor Crater]] in Arizona. Borman thought it was a waste of time.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|p=101}} "I didn't care about picking up rocks," he later told an interviewer, "I wanted to beat the Soviets to the Moon".<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?296330-1/frank-borman-oral-history-interview |title=Frank Borman Oral History Interview |publisher=C-SPAN |date=May 2, 2009 |last=Naftali |first=Timothy |access-date=May 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170614233551/https://www.c-span.org/video/?296330-1%2Ffrank-borman-oral-history-interview |archive-date=June 14, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Project Gemini ===
{{Main|Gemini 7}}
[[File:Gemini 7 Breakfast (S65-59927).jpg|thumb|right|Borman (right) is joined for breakfast before the Gemini 7 mission by fellow astronauts]]
When the Chief of the Flight Crew Operations, Mercury Seven astronaut [[Deke Slayton]], drew up a tentative schedule of Project Gemini flights, he assigned Mercury Seven astronaut [[Alan Shepard]] command of the first crewed flight, [[Gemini 3]], with Next Nine astronaut Tom Stafford as his co-pilot. Mercury Seven astronaut [[Gus Grissom]] would command the backup crew, with Borman as his co-pilot. Under the crew rotation system Slayton devised, the backup crew of one mission would become the prime of the third mission after. Borman would therefore become the co-pilot of Gemini 6, which was planned as a long-duration fourteen-day mission.{{sfn|Slayton|Cassutt|1994|pp=137–138}}

An Apollo mission to the Moon was expected to take at least a week,{{sfn|Hacker|Grimwood|2010|p=53}} so one of the objectives of Project Gemini was to test the ability of the crew and spacecraft components to operate in space for that length of time.{{sfn|Hacker|Grimwood|2010|pp=55–56}} When Shepard was grounded in October 1963, Grissom and Borman became the prime crew of Gemini 3.{{sfn|Slayton|Cassutt|1994|pp=137–138}} Grissom invited Borman to his house to talk to him about the mission, and after a long discussion, decided that he could not work with Borman.<ref name="oral" /> According to [[Gene Cernan]], "the egos of Grissom and Borman were too big to fit into a single spacecraft".{{sfn|Cernan|Davis|1999|p=66}} Slayton therefore replaced Borman with [[John Young (astronaut)|John Young]].{{sfn|Slayton|Cassutt|1994|pp=137–138}}

Slayton still wanted Borman for the two-week flight, which had now slipped to [[Gemini 7]], so Borman was assigned as backup commander of Gemini 4, with [[Jim Lovell]] as his co-pilot.{{sfn|Slayton|Cassutt|1994|pp=137–138}} This was officially announced on July 27, 1964,{{sfn|Hacker|Grimwood|2010|pp=239–240}} and their assignment to Gemini&nbsp;7 followed on July 1, 1965, with [[Ed White (astronaut)|Ed White]] and Michael Collins as their backups.{{sfn|Hacker|Grimwood|2010|p=265}} Borman was one of four members of his group chosen to command their first missions, the others being McDivitt, [[Neil Armstrong]], and [[Elliot See]],{{sfn|Hacker|Grimwood|2010|p=533}} although See was killed in a [[1966 NASA T-38 crash|jet crash]] three months before his mission.{{sfn|Hacker|Grimwood|2010|pp=323–324}} Prime and backup crews trained for the mission together, and Borman found the experience as a backup valuable, amounting to a dress rehearsal of their own mission.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|p=114}}

[[File:Gemini 7 in orbit - GPN-crop.jpg|thumb|left|Gemini 7, as seen from Gemini 6]]
That Gemini&nbsp;7 would last for fourteen days was known from the beginning, and gave Borman time to prepare. To keep fit, he and Lovell jogged {{convert|2|to|3|mi|0}} a day, and played handball after work. They visited the [[McDonnell Aircraft]] plant in [[St. Louis, Missouri]], where their spacecraft was built. At {{convert|8076|lb}}, it was {{convert|250|lb}} heavier than any previous Gemini spacecraft.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|p=114}} Special procedures were developed for the stowage of consumables and garbage. A lightweight space suit was developed to make the astronauts more comfortable.{{sfn|Hacker|Grimwood|2010|pp=277–278}}

A major change affecting the mission occurred when the Agena target vehicle for [[Gemini 6]] suffered a catastrophic failure. This mission was intended to practice [[orbital rendezvous]], a requirement of Project Apollo and therefore an objective of Project Gemini. Borman was at the [[Kennedy Space Center]] (KSC) to observe the launch of Gemini 6, and heard two McDonnell officials, spacecraft chief Walter Burke and his deputy, [[John F. Yardley|John Yardley]], discuss the possibility of using Gemini&nbsp;7 as a rendezvous target. Borman rejected the idea of docking the two spacecraft, but otherwise thought the idea had merit.{{sfn|Hacker|Grimwood|2010|pp=265–268}}

After some discussion about how it could be accomplished, it was approved. The [[6555th Aerospace Test Wing]] dismantled Gemini&nbsp;6 and assembled Gemini&nbsp;7 at [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 19]]. Gemini&nbsp;7 was launched at 14:30 local time on December 6, 1965.{{sfn|Hacker|Grimwood|2010|p=280}} Then the race was on to launch Gemini&nbsp;6 with [[Wally Schirra]] and Tom Stafford on board, which was accomplished at 08:37 local time on December 15.{{sfn|Hacker|Grimwood|2010|pp=282–286}} Gemini&nbsp;6 completed the rendezvous with Gemini&nbsp;7 at 14:33. The two craft came within {{convert|30|cm|in|order=flip|sp=us}} of each other.{{sfn|Hacker|Grimwood|2010|pp=286–291}} At one point Schirra held up a sign in the window for Borman to read that said: "Beat Army". Schirra, Stafford and Lovell were all United States Naval Academy graduates; Borman was outnumbered.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19661012&id=mMctAAAAIBAJ&pg=5341,6430879 |newspaper=Reading Eagle |location=Reading, Pennsylvania |title=Astronauts to Visit Annapolis |date=October 12, 1966 |page=60 |access-date=May 12, 2019 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

[[File:Gemini 7 crew on carrier (S65-63646) (26044118656).jpg|thumb|right|Borman and Lovell arrive on the recovery vessel, the [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Wasp|CV-18|6}}]]
When Schirra and Stafford pulled away and returned to Earth, Borman and Lovell still had three days to go, in a space the size of the front seat of a small car. Borman began hoping that something would go wrong and excuse an early return. Finally, on December 18, it was time to return. The two astronauts were pumped up with the help of the stimulant [[dexedrine]]. The re-entry was accomplished flawlessly, and the Gemini&nbsp;7 spacecraft [[Splashdown|splashed down]] {{convert|6.4|mi}} from the recovery vessel, the [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Wasp|CV-18|6}}. Borman had never been on an aircraft carrier before, and was awed by its size.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=144–149}} Borman was awarded the [[NASA Exceptional Service Medal]] for this mission,{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|p=151}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39739763/the_tampa_tribune/|title=4 Gemini Astronauts Agree Man Can Survive in Space|newspaper=The Tampa Tribune|location=Tampa, Florida|date=December 31, 1965|via=Newspapers.com|page=3-B}}</ref> and was promoted to [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]]. At 37, he was the youngest full colonel in the Air Force.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|p=155}}

=== Project Apollo ===
==== Apollo 1 ====
{{Main|Apollo 1}}
In planning for Project Apollo, Slayton designated new crews under the command of the experienced astronauts who commanded the early Gemini missions. On missions with a [[lunar module]], the senior pilot (later known as the command module pilot) would also be an experienced astronaut, as he would have to fly the [[Apollo command and service module#Command module (CM)|command module]] solo. Borman was given the assignment of backup for the second mission, an Earth-orbital mission without a lunar module. He would then command the fourth, a [[medium Earth orbit]] mission with a lunar module. He was given [[Charles Bassett]] for a senior pilot and [[Bill Anders]] as the pilot (later known as the lunar module pilot);{{sfn|Slayton|Cassutt|1994|pp=182–184}}{{sfn|Shayler|2002|p=116}} Bassett was expected to fly on [[Gemini 9]], but he died in the air crash that also killed See.{{sfn|Hacker|Grimwood|2010|p=533}} Borman was then given Stafford as senior pilot and Collins as pilot.{{sfn|Ertel|Newkirk|Brooks|1978|pp=40–41}} Subsequently, Stafford was given his own crew, and Anders was reassigned to Borman's crew. As Collins had spaceflight experience on [[Gemini 10]], he became the senior pilot.{{sfn|Ertel|Newkirk|Brooks|1978|p=56}} The second mission was scrubbed, but Borman's remained unchanged, although now it was to be the third mission, and he had no backup responsibility.{{sfn|Slayton|Cassutt|1994|pp=182–184}}{{sfn|Shayler|2002|p=116}} The crew selection was officially announced in a NASA press release on December 22, 1966.{{sfn|Shayler|2002|p=127}}

[[File:Apollo 1 fire.jpg|thumb|left|The charred remains of the Apollo 1 cabin interior]]
On January 27, 1967, the crew members of the first crewed Apollo mission ([[Apollo 1]]&nbsp;— then designated AS-204), Gus Grissom, Ed White, and [[Roger B. Chaffee]], were killed in a fire aboard their command module. Following this deadly accident, the AS-204 Accident Review Board was charged with investigating the root causes of the fire and recommending corrective measures. Borman was chosen as the only astronaut to serve on the nine-member review board. He inspected the burnt-out command module and verified the positions of the switches and circuit breakers.{{sfn|Ertel|Newkirk|Brooks|1978|pp=63–65}} In April 1967, while serving on the board, Borman was one of five astronauts who testified before the [[United States House of Representatives]] and [[United States Senate]] committees investigating the Apollo&nbsp;1 fire (the others were Shepard, Schirra, Slayton and McDivitt). Borman faced tough and sometimes hostile questioning.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=179–180}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Apollo-1 Investigation |publisher=NASA |url=https://history.nasa.gov/Apollo204/inv.html |access-date=May 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714112758/https://history.nasa.gov/Apollo204/inv.html |archive-date=July 14, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Borman's testimony helped convince Congress that Apollo would be safe to fly again.{{sfn|Brooks|Grimwood|Swenson|1979|p=224}} He told them: "We are trying to tell you that we are confident in our management, and in our engineering and in ourselves. I think the question is really: Are you confident in us?"{{sfn|Brooks|Grimwood|Swenson|1979|p=224}}

In the aftermath of the disaster, [[Joseph Francis Shea|Joe Shea]] resigned as manager of the Apollo project. [[Robert Gilruth]], the director of the MSC, offered the position to Borman, who turned it down. The job was given to Gilruth's deputy, [[George Low]]; Borman accepted a temporary posting to the [[North American Aviation]] plant in [[Downey, California]], where the command modules were made, to oversee the implementation of the recommendations of the AS-204 Accident Review Board. Borman was forced to confront one of the root causes of the disaster: the natural tension between getting the job done on time and building the spacecraft as well as possible.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=181–187}}

Borman argued with test pilot [[Scott Crossfield]], who was in charge of safety engineering at North American, over the design of an effective emergency oxygen system. Borman refused to accept the design because it did not protect the crew from noxious fumes. Crossfield then opposed the delivery of North American's [[S-II]], the second stage of the [[Saturn V]] Moon rocket, which Crossfield deemed unsafe. Borman informed management at North American that he could not work with Crossfield, and Crossfield eventually left the company. A redesigned hatch that allowed the astronauts to exit within seconds instead of minutes added {{convert|1500|lb}} to the weight of the spacecraft. The parachutes had to be redesigned to ensure they could hold the additional weight, and re-testing them cost $250,000. This led to a clash with [[George Mueller (NASA)|George Mueller]], who thought the cost was excessive.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=181–187}}

==== Apollo 8 ====
{{Main|Apollo 8}}
[[File:Frank Borman suiting up on launch day.jpg|thumb|right|Borman prepares for Apollo 8 on launch day.]]
Borman's medium Earth orbit lunar module test mission was now planned as Apollo 9, and tentatively scheduled for early 1969, after a [[low Earth orbit]] one commanded by McDivitt in December 1968. The crew assignments were officially announced on November 20, 1967,{{sfn|Brooks|Grimwood|Swenson|1979|p=374}} but in July 1968 Collins suffered a [[intervertebral disc|cervical]] [[Spinal disc herniation|disc herniation]] that required surgery to repair. He was replaced by Lovell in July 1968, reuniting Borman with his Gemini&nbsp;7 crewmate.{{sfn|Collins|2001|pp=288–294}} When Apollo 8's LM-3 arrived at the KSC in June 1968, more than a hundred significant defects were discovered, leading Gilruth to conclude that there was no prospect of LM-3 being ready to fly in 1968.{{sfn|Brooks|Grimwood|Swenson|1979|p=256}}

In August 1968, in response to a report from the [[CIA]] that the Soviet Union were considering a lunar fly-by before the end of the year,{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|p=189}} Low proposed a bold solution to keep the Apollo program on track. Since the next Command/Service Module (CSM) (designated as "CSM-103") would be ready three months before LM-3, a CSM-only mission could be flown in December 1968. Instead of repeating the flight of [[Apollo 7]], it could be sent to the Moon, entering lunar orbit before returning to Earth. This also meant that the medium Earth orbit mission could be dispensed with, keeping to the schedule for a lunar landing in mid-1969.{{sfn|Brooks|Grimwood|Swenson|1979|p=257}} With the change in mission for Apollo 8, Slayton asked McDivitt if he still wanted to fly it. McDivitt turned it down; his crew had spent a great deal of time preparing to test the LM, and that was what he still wanted to do.{{sfn|Brooks|Grimwood|Swenson|1979|p=262}} When Borman was asked the same question, he answered "yes" without any hesitation.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|p=189}} Slayton then decided to swap the crews and spacecraft of the Apollo&nbsp;8 and&nbsp;9 missions.{{sfn|Brooks|Grimwood|Swenson|1979|p=262}}{{sfn|Collins|2001|pp=296–298}}

[[File:NASA-Apollo8-Dec24-Earthrise.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Earthrise]]'', taken on December 24, 1968, by [[Apollo 8]] astronaut [[Bill Anders]]]]
Apollo&nbsp;8 was launched at 12:51:00 [[UTC]] (07:51:00 [[Eastern Time Zone (North America)|Eastern Standard Time]]) on December 21, 1968.{{sfn|Orloff|2000|p=39}} On the second day Borman awoke feeling ill. He vomited twice and had a bout of diarrhea; this left the spacecraft full of small globules of vomit and feces, which the crew cleaned up as best they could. Borman did not want anyone to know about his medical problems, but Lovell and Anders wanted to inform Mission Control.<ref name="journal day 2 green">{{cite web |url=https://history.nasa.gov/ap08fj/06day2_green.htm |title=Day 2: Green Team |last1=Woods |first1=W. David |last2=O'Brien |first2=Frank |date=April 22, 2006 |work=Apollo 8 Flight Journal |publisher=NASA |access-date=January 30, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311114001/https://history.nasa.gov/ap08fj/06day2_green.htm |archive-date=March 11, 2008}}</ref> The Apollo&nbsp;8 crew and Mission Control medical personnel concluded that there was little to worry about and that Borman's illness was either a [[Gastroenteritis|24-hour flu]], as Borman thought, or an adverse reaction to a sleeping pill.{{sfn|Collins|2001|p=306}} Researchers now believe that he was suffering from [[space adaptation syndrome]], which affects about a third of astronauts during their first day in space as their [[vestibular system]] adapts to [[weightlessness]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Quine |first=Tony |date=April 2007 |title=Addicted to space: An appreciation of Anousheh Ansari, Part II |journal=Spaceflight |volume=49 |issue=4 |page=144 |issn=0038-6340 |publisher=[[British Interplanetary Society]]}}</ref> Space adaptation syndrome had not occurred on Mercury and Gemini missions because those astronauts could not move freely in the small cabins of those spacecraft. The increased cabin space in the Apollo command module afforded astronauts greater freedom of movement, contributing to symptoms of space sickness.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/experiment/exper.aspx?exp_index=747 |title=The Effects of Long-Duration Space Flight on Eye, Head, and Trunk Coordination During Locomotion |last1=Kozlovskaya |first1=Inessa B |last2=Bloomberg |first2=Jacob J. |last3=Layne |first3=Charles S. |year=2004 |work=Life Sciences Data Archive |publisher=Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center |id=LSDA Exp ID: 9307191 |access-date=June 28, 2013 |display-authors=2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728060352/http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/experiment/exper.aspx?exp_index=747 |archive-date=July 28, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:As8 genesis1a.ogv|thumb|The [[Apollo 8]] 1968 Christmas Eve [[Apollo 8 Genesis reading|broadcast and reading]] from the [[Book of Genesis]]]]
On December 24, Apollo&nbsp;8 went into lunar orbit. The crew made ten orbits of the Moon in twenty hours before returning to Earth. The mission is known for the ''[[Earthrise]]'' photograph taken by Bill Anders of the Earth rising above the lunar horizon as the command module orbited the Moon, and for the televised [[Apollo 8 Genesis reading|reading from Genesis]] in lunar orbit, released for worldwide broadcast.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo8_xmas.html |title=The Apollo 8 Christmas Eve Broadcast |last=Williams |first=David R. |date=September 25, 2007 |access-date=August 28, 2019 |publisher=NASA National Space Science Data Center |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080419065805/http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo8_xmas.html |archive-date=April 19, 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |url=http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/image/apollo8_xmas.mov |format=MOV |title=The Apollo 8 Christmas Eve Broadcast |people=Borman, Frank; [[James A. Lovell|Lovell, James]]; [[William Anders|Anders, Bill]] |date=December 25, 1968 |medium=Live broadcast |publisher=NASA National Space Science Data Center |access-date=December 27, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090118064436/http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/image/apollo8_xmas.mov |archive-date=January 18, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> About six weeks before the launch, NASA's deputy director for public affairs, [[Julian Scheer]], had told Borman that a television broadcast was scheduled for this time, and suggested that they find something appropriate to say. Borman had consulted with Simon Bourgin, who worked at the [[United States Information Agency]], and had accompanied Borman and Lovell on a goodwill tour of the Far East after the Gemini&nbsp;7 mission. Bourgin, in turn, consulted Joe Laitin, a former United Press International reporter, who suggested that the Apollo&nbsp;8 crew read from the [[Book of Genesis]] after his wife Christine had come up with the idea. The text was transcribed onto fireproof paper for the broadcast.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=194–195}}{{sfn|Watkins|2007|pp=69–71}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Muir-Harmony |first1=Teasel |title=How Apollo 8 Delivered Christmas Eve Peace and Understanding to the World |journal=Smithsonian Magazine |date=11 December 2020 |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-apollo-8-delivered-moment-christmas-eve-peace-and-understanding-world-180976431/}}</ref> "One of the things that was truly historic", Borman later joked, "was that we got that good Catholic Bill Anders to read from the [[King James Version]] of the bible."{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|p=224}}

[[File:The crew of Apollo 8 addresses the crew of the USS Yorktown after a successful splashdown and recovery.jpg|thumb|Borman addresses the crew of the {{USS|Yorktown|CV-10|6}} after a successful splashdown and recovery.]]
The Apollo&nbsp;8 spacecraft splashed down in darkness at 10:51:42 UTC (05:51:42 EST) on Friday, December 27.{{sfn|Orloff|2000|p=40}} Borman had argued for this; a daylight landing would have required orbiting the Moon at least twelve times, and Borman did not think this was necessary.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|p=192}} When the spacecraft hit the water, Borman did not flick the switch to release the parachutes quickly enough. They dragged the spacecraft over and left it upside down. In this position, the flashing light beacon could not be seen by the recovery helicopters. Borman inflated the bags in the nose of the spacecraft, which then righted itself. Mission ground rules required a daylight recovery, so the crew had to wait 45 minutes until local sunrise before the frogmen could open the hatches.{{sfn|Brooks|Grimwood|Swenson|1979|p=284}} Borman became seasick and threw up, and was glad when he could be taken on board the recovery ship, the aircraft carrier {{USS|Yorktown|CV-10|6}}.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|p=218}}

Apollo&nbsp;8 came at the end of 1968, a year that had seen much upheaval in the United States and most of the world.<ref name="Men of the Year">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900486,00.html |title=Nation: Men of the Year |date=January 3, 1969 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=February 13, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080108120930/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C900486%2C00.html |archive-date=January 8, 2008}}</ref> They were the first human beings to orbit another celestial body,<ref name="Apollo 8 Firsts">{{cite web |title=Apollo 8 Firsts |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/moon/peopleevents/e_firsts.html |work=American Experience: Race to the Moon |publisher=PBS |access-date=December 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307035422/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/moon/peopleevents/e_firsts.html |archive-date=March 7, 2012 |location=Boston |date=September 22, 2005}}</ref> having survived a mission that even the crew themselves had rated as having only a fifty-fifty chance of fully succeeding.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Holahan|first=David|date=May 18, 2017|title=''Apollo 8'' ably resurrects the thrill and drama of the 1960s space race|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Book-Reviews/2017/0518/Apollo-8-ably-resurrects-the-thrill-and-drama-of-the-1960s-space-race|magazine=The Christian Science Monitor|issn=0882-7729|access-date=June 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629180738/https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Book-Reviews/2017/0518/Apollo-8-ably-resurrects-the-thrill-and-drama-of-the-1960s-space-race|archive-date=June 29, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The effect of Apollo&nbsp;8 was summed up in a telegram from a stranger, received by Borman after the mission, that stated simply, "Thank you Apollo 8. You saved 1968."{{sfn|Chaikin|1994|p=134}}

The crew were accorded [[ticker tape parade]]s in New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., where they were awarded the [[NASA Distinguished Service Medal]], which was presented by President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=NASA Awards Recipient List|url=https://searchpub.nssc.nasa.gov/servlet/sm.web.Fetch/Agency_Awards_Historical_Recipient_List.pdf?rhid=1000&did=2120817&type=released|website=National Aeronautics and Space Administration}}</ref>{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=222–223}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36084008/tucson_daily_citizen/|title=Borman Promoted to Deputy Director|date=January 9, 1969|newspaper=Tucson Daily Citizen|access-date=September 18, 2019|agency=United Press International|location=Tucson, Arizona|page=27|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Borman was also awarded the [[Air Force Distinguished Service Medal]].<ref name="valor">{{cite web |title=Frank Borman – Recipient |publisher=Military Times Hall of Valor |url=https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/27230 |access-date=May 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190513211722/https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/27230 |archive-date=May 13, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Afterward, Borman was sent on a goodwill tour of Europe, with a secondary objective of finding out more about the space programs of other [[NATO]] countries. He was accompanied by Bourgin and Nicholas Ruwe, the assistant chief of protocol at the [[State Department]]. Borman met with [[Queen Elizabeth II]], [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Prince Philip]] and a teenage [[Princess Anne]] at [[Buckingham Palace]] in the UK, with President [[Charles de Gaulle]] in France, [[Pope Paul VI]] in Rome, and [[Baudouin of Belgium|King Baudouin]] and [[Queen Fabiola of Belgium]].{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=227–233}}

==== Apollo 11 ====
{{Main|Apollo 11}}
Space journalist [[Andrew Chaikin]] claims that, following the death of Gus Grissom, Borman became Slayton's choice to command the first Moon landing attempt. In the fall of 1968, Slayton offered command of the first landing to Borman, who turned it down.{{sfn|Chaikin|1994|p=128}} Long before Apollo&nbsp;8 lifted off, Borman had decided that it would be his last flight, and that he would retire in 1970.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=222–223}} After twenty years' service in the Air Force, he would qualify for a pension.{{sfn|Slayton|Cassutt|1994|pp=138–139}} Borman told an interviewer in 1999 that "my reason for joining NASA was to participate in the Apollo Program, the lunar program, and hopefully beat the Russians. I never looked at it for any individual goals. I never wanted to be the first person on the Moon and frankly, as far as I was concerned, when [[Apollo 11]] was over the mission was over. The rest was frosting on the cake."<ref name="oral" />

[[File:The phone call from the Oval Office to Apollo 11.jpg|thumb|left|Borman (center) in the Oval Office during Nixon's call to the Apollo 11 astronauts on the Moon]]

For the Apollo&nbsp;11 Moon landing mission in July 1969, Borman was assigned as NASA liaison to President [[Richard Nixon]] at the [[White House]]. He viewed the launch from the President's office.<ref>{{cite web |title=President Richard Nixon's Daily Diary |url=https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/virtuallibrary/documents/PDD/1969/013%20July%2016-31%201969.pdf |publisher=Richard Nixon Presidential Library |access-date=September 3, 2018 |page=2 |date=July 16, 1969 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903215447/https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/virtuallibrary/documents/PDD/1969/013%20July%2016-31%201969.pdf |archive-date=September 3, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Nixon initially had prepared a long speech to read to the astronauts on the Moon during a phone call, but Borman persuaded him to keep his words brief and non-partisan. He also convinced the President to omit the playing of the "[[Star Spangled Banner]]", which would have required the astronauts to waste two and a half minutes of their time on the surface standing still.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=237–238}} He accompanied the President in [[Marine One]], when it flew to the recovery ship, the aircraft carrier {{USS|Hornet|CV-12|6}} to meet the crew of Apollo&nbsp;11 on their return.{{sfn|Carmichael|2010|pp=107–108, 145–146}}

====Other military activities====
In June 1970, Borman retired from NASA and the U.S. Air Force as a colonel.<ref name="nmmuseum" /> He later cited family stress as a major reason for leaving the astronaut corps, in particular his wife's alcohol dependency.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 10, 2023 |title=Frank Borman, Apollo 8 commander who led first crew to orbit moon, dies at 95 |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/11/09/frank-borman-astronaut-eastern-dead/ |access-date=November 16, 2023}}</ref> For his services as an astronaut, the Air Force awarded him the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]] and the [[Legion of Merit]].<ref name="valor" />

In August 1970, he undertook another special presidential mission, a worldwide tour to seek support for the release of American [[prisoners of war]] held by [[North Vietnam]].<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Department of State Bulletin |volume=63 |issue=1633 |date=October 12, 1970 |title=U.S. Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia |pages=405–408 |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/dsbul63&div=1&src=home |url-access=subscription}}</ref> At the conclusion of his 25-day mission to 25 countries,<ref name="Borman Gives Grim Report" /> Borman briefed Nixon on September 1 at the [[La Casa Pacifica|Western White House]] in [[San Clemente, California]]. While the mission was not an abject failure, his fame failed to compensate for his lack of political experience and gravitas.{{sfn|Davis|2000|p=249}} On September 22, he appeared before an unusual joint meeting of Congress conducted at the request of the [[National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia]] in his capacity as presidential envoy. He noted that the POWs were being treated poorly, and urged Congress "not to forsake your countrymen who have given so much for you."<ref name="Borman Gives Grim Report">{{cite news |title=Borman Gives Grim Report on P.O.W.'s |first=John W. |last=Finney |newspaper=The New York Times  |date=September 23, 1970 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/23/archives/borman-gives-grim-report-on-pows.html |access-date=September 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927125756/https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/23/archives/borman-gives-grim-report-on-pows.html |archive-date=September 27, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Borman performed one more assignment for the military. In 1976, there was a major cheating scandal at West Point. Faculty noticed remarkably similar answers to an examination paper for Electrical Engineering 304, a required course, that had been given to over 800 cadets to complete on their own. Cheating was a violation of the [[Cadet Honor Code]], and cheaters were subject to expulsion. Cadets were tried by 12-member honor boards of cadets that functioned as grand juries; but the system was prone to abuse, and those cleared on appeal to the five‐member appeal boards of officers that functioned as courts were often punished with "silence", a form of shunning.<ref>{{cite news |title=More Than 90 Cadets at West Point Face Charges of Cheating on a Test |first=James |last=Feron |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 8, 1976 |page=41  |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/04/08/archives/more-than-90-cadets-at-west-point-face-charges-of-cheating-on-a.html |access-date=September 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927125754/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/04/08/archives/more-than-90-cadets-at-west-point-face-charges-of-cheating-on-a.html |archive-date=September 27, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Borman was appointed to head a special commission to investigate and report to the [[United States Secretary of the Army|Secretary of the Army]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Report to the Secretary of the Army by the Special Commission on the United States Military Academy |first1=Frank |last1=Borman |first2=Harold K. |last2=Johnson |author-link2=Harold Keith Johnson |first3=A. Kenneth |last3=Pye |author-link3=A. Kenneth Pye |first4=Willis M. |last4=Tate |author-link4= Willis M. Tate |first5=John T. |last5=Walker |author-link5=John T. Walker (bishop) |first6=Howard S. |last6=Wilcox |publisher=West Point |url=http://www.west-point.org/users/usma1983/40768/docs/borman.html |date=December 15, 1976 |access-date=May 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226202843/http://www.west-point.org/users/usma1983/40768/docs/borman.html |archive-date=December 26, 2017}}</ref> Eventually, 92 cadets were readmitted, and graduated with the Class of 1978; more than 60 others declined the offer of amnesty, and chose to complete their education elsewhere.<ref>{{cite web |title=West Point '78 Closing Book on Cheating '76 |first=James |last=Feron |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 5, 1978 |page=B1 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/06/05/archives/west-point-78-closing-book-on-cheating-76-west-point-78-is-closing.html |access-date=September 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927125754/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/06/05/archives/west-point-78-closing-book-on-cheating-76-west-point-78-is-closing.html |archive-date=September 27, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Borman's son Frederick, of the West Point Class of 1974, was accused of taking a bribe. It was alleged that while a member of a cadet honor code board he had accepted a $1,200 payment to fix a case involving two cadets accused of cheating. Frederick was cleared of all charges after taking a [[polygraph]] test. Borman's younger son, Edwin, of the West Point Class of 1975, was also accused of improprieties, but there was no evidence to support the allegations, and they were dismissed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Son of Astronaut Cleared of Charge |first=Murray |last=Illson |date=November 17, 1976 |newspaper=The New York Times  |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/11/17/archives/son-of-astronaut-cleared-of-charge-army-lifts-bribe-allegation.html |access-date=May 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190515111323/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/11/17/archives/son-of-astronaut-cleared-of-charge-army-lifts-bribe-allegation.html |archive-date=May 15, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Eastern Air Lines ==
In early 1969, Borman became a special advisor to [[Eastern Air Lines]].<ref name=jsc /> The following year he completed [[Harvard Business School]]'s six-week [[Harvard Business School#Advanced Management Program|Advanced Management Program]].<ref name="nmmuseum" /> He joined Eastern Air Lines on July 1, 1970, and moved to Miami.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|p=267}} In December he became its senior vice president for operations.<ref name=jsc /><ref name="Astronaut in Exile">{{cite news |first=Rowland |last=Stiteler |newspaper=Sun-Sentinel |location=Fort Lauderdale, Florida |title=Borman Astronaut in Exile |date=February 14, 1988 |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1988-02-14-8801100089-story.html |access-date=May 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514203916/https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1988-02-14-8801100089-story.html |archive-date=May 14, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> On the evening of December 29, 1972, Borman received a phone call informing him that [[Eastern Air Lines Flight 401]] had disappeared off the radar near Florida's [[Everglades]]. He took a helicopter, which was able to land in the darkness {{convert|150|yards|sp=us}} from the crash site, and waded waist-deep through the murky swamp, helping rescue crash victims and load survivors into rescue helicopters.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=284–285}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Borman Praises Survivors' Calm |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33369414/borman_praises_survivors_calm/ |access-date=June 20, 2019 |work=Fort Lauderdale News |location=Fort Lauderdale, Florida |page=18 |date=December 31, 1972 |agency=Associated Press |via=Newspapers.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629211354/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33369414/borman_praises_survivors_calm/ |archive-date=June 29, 2019 |url-status=live }}{{free access}}</ref>

[[File:Eastern Air Lines Lockheed L-1011 Tristar 1 Proctor-1.jpg|thumb|left|Eastern Air Lines [[Lockheed L-1011 TriStar]] N310EA (193A-1011), which crashed in the Florida Everglades on December 29, 1972]]
The accident put the spotlight on the airline's [[Lockheed L-1011 TriStar]] aircraft, which suffered from maintenance problems, particularly with the turbine blades of the [[Rolls-Royce RB211]] engine. This made it difficult to fly them at a profit. The airline also had 25 [[Boeing 727]]-100QC aircraft capable of being quickly changed from passenger to cargo aircraft. These weighed more than the airline's standard 727-100s, and therefore consumed more fuel, which made them only marginally profitable when fuel prices were low,{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=288–289}} but jet fuel prices quadrupled in the 1970s.<ref name="Astronaut in Exile" /> Eastern also spent $200,000 on a down payment for two [[Concorde]]s, although it had no suitable routes to fly them on.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=277–279}}

Borman was promoted to executive vice president-general operations manager and was elected to Eastern's board of directors in July 1974. In May 1975, he was elected president and chief operating officer by the board. He was named chief executive officer of Eastern in December 1975, and became [[chairman of the board]] in December 1976.<ref name=jsc>{{cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/borman_frank_0.pdf |title=FRANK BORMAN NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)|access-date=January 10, 2021 |publisher=NASA |date=December 1993}}</ref> Borman disliked aspects of American corporate culture, such as plush offices, luxury Cadillac and Mercedes company cars and a [[Lockheed JetStar]] corporate jet for executives, while firing or furloughing employees.<ref name="Astronaut in Exile" />{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=277–279}} After he became Eastern's CEO, he saved the company $9&nbsp;million annually in salaries by firing 81 middle managers and 31 vice presidents. He drove to work in a second-hand [[Chevrolet Camaro]] with an engine he rebuilt himself. He sold the JetStar, and, as at North American, banned drinking on company time, which he considered also included lunchtime. The end of the [[three-martini lunch]] came as a shock to many executives.<ref name="Astronaut in Exile" />

Eastern had not turned a profit since 1969.<ref name="Astronaut in Exile" /> To reduce costs, Borman convinced employees to accept a wage freeze in 1976, with an eight percent raise in 1977, and then a five-year Variable Earnings Program (VEP). Under the VEP, employees contributed 3.5 percent of their annual salaries to a special profit insurance fund. If Eastern did not achieve a two percent return on each revenue dollar, the fund was used to make up the difference. If the company did earn more than two percent, the excess money was returned to the employees, who could earn back up to twice their contributions.{{sfn|Jennings|1989|pp=13–14}} To get his changes through, Borman visited the airline's facilities in 28 states to bring his proposals to his employees.<ref name="Astronaut in Exile" />

With the VEP in hand, Borman was able to refinance the debt on the company's 254 aircraft.{{sfn|Jennings|1989|pp=13–14}} Profits jumped to a record $67.3&nbsp;million in 1978.<ref name="Astronaut in Exile" /> During this time, the employees received double their VEP payments.{{sfn|Jennings|1989|pp=13–14}} Borman ordered $1.4&nbsp;billion worth of new, more fuel-efficient aircraft, and the company's debt ballooned to $2.3&nbsp;billion. But 1979 was the last profitable year until 1985.<ref name="Astronaut in Exile" /> In the intervening five years, Eastern ran at a loss, accumulating $380&nbsp;million in losses. The company's [[debt-to-equity ratio]] stood at 8:1, and servicing the debt required $235&nbsp;million annually in interest payments, representing about {{Fraction|6|1|2}} cents in every dollar earned.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/17/business/frank-borman-s-most-difficult-days.html|title=Frank Borman's Most Difficult Days|last=Wayne|first=Leslie|date=February 17, 1985|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=September 10, 2019|location=New York|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191003045030/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/17/business/frank-borman-s-most-difficult-days.html|archive-date=October 3, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

The cause of the decline in profitability was only partly due to the company's debt; there was also [[airline deregulation]] in 1978, which caused the number of airlines in the United States to increase from 30 to nearly 100.<ref name="Astronaut in Exile" /> Some of the newcomers offered unprofitable and unsustainable low prices to gain market share. In just the first three-quarters of 1984, Eastern lost $128&nbsp;million.{{sfn|Jennings|1989|pp=14–15}} Borman negotiated an agreement with the [[Air Line Pilots Association, International|Air Line Pilots Association]] (ALPA) for a 22 percent pay cut, while the [[International Association of Machinists]] (IAM) and the [[Transport Workers Union of America|Transport Workers Union]] (TWU) (representing the [[flight attendant]]s) accepted an 18 percent cut. Employees were nominally compensated with grants of company stock, but its value declined from $60 a share in 1966 to $6 a share in 1983.{{sfn|Jennings|1989|pp=14–15}}

Eastern posted a profit of $6.3&nbsp;million on gross revenues of $4&nbsp;billion in 1984, but this was not enough to satisfy the creditors, who demanded a two percent profit.<ref name="Astronaut in Exile" /> Borman laid off 1,000 flight attendants and cut the pay of 6,000 more by over 20 percent. He also slashed the pay of executives and middle managers by 20 to 25 percent.{{sfn|Jennings|1989|pp=14–15}} In the first quarter of 1985, earnings were up to $24.3&nbsp;million, 35 cents a share, after setting aside $28.9&nbsp;million for the employees. It was the third consecutive profitable quarter in a row.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York |title=Eastern Airlines' Profit In Quarter Is 2nd Biggest |first=Agis |last=Salpukas |date=April 17, 1985 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/17/business/eastern-airlines-profit-in-quarter-is-2nd-biggest.html |access-date=September 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191003045031/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/17/business/eastern-airlines-profit-in-quarter-is-2nd-biggest.html |archive-date=October 3, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Borman attempted to negotiate further cuts with the unions, threatening bankruptcy. The ALPA and TWU accepted, but the IAM did not. Over ten years, the three unions had given up $836&nbsp;million in wages and benefits, and the company had little to show for it. [[Charlie Bryan]], the head of the IAM, said that the union would accept the deal only if Borman resigned. In response, Eastern's board decided to sell the airline to [[Texas Air Corporation]], headed by [[Frank Lorenzo]]. Borman resigned from Eastern in June 1986.{{sfn|Jennings|1989|pp=14–15}}<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |title=Eorman to Leave Eastern |first=Agis |last=Salpukas |date=June 3, 1986 |location=New York |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/03/business/borman-to-leave-eastern.html |access-date=September 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191003045029/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/03/business/borman-to-leave-eastern.html |archive-date=October 3, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> It was a personal defeat, but hardly a personal financial disaster; he received a severance payment of $900,000, and drew a consultant's fee of $150,000 a year from it until 1991.<ref name="Astronaut in Exile" />

Borman served on the South African Board of Inquiry into the [[1986 Mozambican Tupolev Tu-134 crash|1986 aircraft crash]] that killed Mozambican president [[Samora Machel]].{{sfn|Darch|2018|p=253}}

== Retirement ==
[[File:FrankBormanJamesLovellWilliamAndersDec2008.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.5|Borman with [[Jim Lovell]] and [[Bill Anders]] at an [[Apollo 8]] 40th anniversary event in [[San Diego]] in December 2008]]
Borman and Susan left Miami, and moved to [[Las Cruces, New Mexico]]. For a time, he was the majority owner of a Las Cruces [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] dealership founded by his son, Fred.<ref name="Astronaut in Exile" /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m5092/is_n11_v16/ai_12926613/ |title=Auto dealers: sign of the times – The New Mexico Private 100 |last=Diven |first=William |date=November 1992 |newspaper=New Mexico Business Journal |location=Albuquerque, New Mexico |access-date=February 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050529085129/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m5092/is_n11_v16/ai_12926613 |archive-date=May 29, 2005 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was a member of the boards of directors of [[Home Depot]], [[National Geographic]], [[Outboard Marine Corporation]], [[Automotive Financial Group]], Thermo Instrument Systems and [[American Superconductor]].<ref name="jsc" /> He was CEO of Patlex Corporation, a small company that held patents in [[laser]]s, from July 1988 to August 1996.<ref>{{cite news |title=Frank Borman's New Challenge: Laser Firm Hopes Chairman's Fame Helps Its Fortunes |first=James F. |last=Peltz |date=July 26, 1988 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles, California |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-07-26-fi-6292-story.html |access-date=September 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901205201/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-07-26-fi-6292-story.html |archive-date=September 1, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/76057/0000893220-96-001486.txt |title=Patlex – Post-Effective Agreement No. 1 |publisher=US Securities and Exchanges Commission |access-date=September 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170530043127/https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/76057/0000893220-96-001486.txt |archive-date=May 30, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> That year, he published an autobiography, ''Countdown'', co-written with [[Robert J. Serling]].<ref name="jsc" />

In 1998, Borman purchased a cattle ranch in the [[Bighorn Mountains]] of southern [[Montana]], running 4,000 head of cattle on {{convert|160000|acres}}.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Ranching by the numbers |first=Burt |last=Rutherford |date=December 20, 2017 |magazine=Beef Magazine |url=https://www.beefmagazine.com/ranching/circle-b-promotes-ranching-numbers |access-date=May 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223140153/http://www.beefmagazine.com/ranching/circle-b-promotes-ranching-numbers |archive-date=December 23, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Healthier and Heavier with Hereford in the Mix |date=February 2011 |magazine=Hereford World |first=Martha Ostendorf |last=Mintz |pages=1, 14 |url=https://issuu.com/buyhereford/docs/february2011hw |access-date=May 15, 2019}}</ref> In addition to tending cattle, Borman continued his hobbies in rebuilding and modeling aircraft. Notably, he owned and painstakingly rebuilt a very rare [[World War II]] single-engine fighter, the [[Bell P-63 Kingcobra]]. It won the prestigious Grand Champion Warbird award when Borman exhibited it at [[EAA AirVenture Oshkosh|Oshkosh]] in 1998.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-07-19 |title=Oshkosh Cobra Flight – Four of Bell's Finest Fighters Together in the Air! |url=https://vintageaviationnews.com/warbirds-news/temp-title-historic-cobra-flight-happen-oshkosh.html |access-date=2024-04-20 |website=Vintage Aviation News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240420010944/https://vintageaviationnews.com/warbirds-news/temp-title-historic-cobra-flight-happen-oshkosh.html |archive-date=2024-04-20 |url-status=live }}</ref> He also personally flew it in airshows.<ref>{{YouTube|1tImCbFjec0|Apollo 8 Astronaut Colonel Frank Borman flies the P-63 Kingcobra}}</ref> He was a member of the Society of Antique Modelers (SAM).<ref name="ama" /> In 1998, he moved to [[Billings, Montana]].<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Billings Gazette |location=Billings, Montana |title=50 years later, Apollo 8 commander talks the Cold War, faith, divisiveness and American greatness |first=Mike |last=Kordenbrock |url=https://billingsgazette.com/news/local/years-later-apollo-commander-talks-the-cold-war-faith-divisiveness/article_40d28210-a02c-5f04-9a4a-2292c9735a19.html |date=December 24, 2018 |access-date=August 28, 2019 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719234036/https://billingsgazette.com/news/local/years-later-apollo-commander-talks-the-cold-war-faith-divisiveness/article_40d28210-a02c-5f04-9a4a-2292c9735a19.html |archive-date=July 19, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> His wife Susan suffered from [[Alzheimer's disease]], and he spent much of his time caring for her.<ref>{{cite news |first=Dan |last=Carden |date=December 21, 2018 |title=Apollo 8 astronaut Frank Borman's journey started in Indiana |newspaper=The (Northwest Indiana) Times |url=https://www.nwitimes.com/news/history/one-astronaut-on-first-manned-moon-mission-began-his-journey/article_ffee4ce7-4dfa-5952-9ecc-21b31d2f8029.html |access-date=September 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927132036/https://www.nwitimes.com/news/history/one-astronaut-on-first-manned-moon-mission-began-his-journey/article_ffee4ce7-4dfa-5952-9ecc-21b31d2f8029.html |archive-date=September 27, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Eventually she was placed in a nursing home, where he visited her each day, until her death on September 7, 2021.<ref>{{YouTube |title=NASA Astronaut Frank Borman|id=V3zEDA-FAeg }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Susan Borman Obituary (2021) Billings Gazette|url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/billingsgazette/name/susan-borman-obituary?pid=200085103|access-date=September 11, 2021|website=Legacy.com}}</ref>

Following [[John Glenn]]'s death in December 2016, Borman became the oldest living American astronaut. He was eleven days older than his Apollo&nbsp;8 crewmate, Jim Lovell.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.facebook.com/NASASpaceflightHistory/posts/happy-90th-birthday-to-astroanaut-frank-bormanfrank-frederick-borman-ii-born-mar/2095675467115410/ |title=Happy 90th birthday to astroanaut Frank Borman! |publisher=NASA |via=Facebook |date=March 14, 2018 |author=NASA History |access-date=September 13, 2019}}</ref> Both celebrated their 90th birthdays in March 2018.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times |title=Happy 90th birthday, James Lovell, Chicago's space pioneer |date=March 23, 2018 |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2018/3/23/18355711/happy-90th-birthday-james-lovell-chicago-s-space-pioneer |access-date=September 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927132033/https://chicago.suntimes.com/2018/3/23/18355711/happy-90th-birthday-james-lovell-chicago-s-space-pioneer |archive-date=September 27, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Borman gave the commencement address to the University of Arizona's 2008 graduating class,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.arizona.edu/story/a-new-beginning |title=A New Beginning |date=May 18, 2008 |work=University Communications |publisher=[[University of Arizona]] |access-date=November 10, 2023 |first=Johnny |last=Cruz  }}</ref> and was reunited with Lovell and Anders for celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Apollo&nbsp;8 in December 2018 at the [[Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago)|Museum of Science and Industry]] in Chicago, where the spacecraft in which they orbited the Moon is on display.<ref name="50th anniversary">{{cite magazine |magazine=Time |title=Apollo 8 Astronauts Reflect on Moon Voyage 50 Years Later |first=Jeffrey |last=Kluger |date=December 10, 2018 |url=https://time.com/5475697/apollo-8-50-years-later/ |access-date=May 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514211242/http://time.com/5475697/apollo-8-50-years-later/ |archive-date=May 14, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> "I have never said it before publicly", declared Borman, "but these two talented guys, I'm just proud that I was able to fly with them. It was a tough job done in four months, and we did a good job."<ref name="50th anniversary" />

Borman died from a stroke at the [[Billings Clinic]] on November 7, 2023, at the age of 95.<ref name=WSJobit>{{Cite news |last=Hagerty |first=James R. |title=Frank Borman, Who Led Historic Flight Around the Moon in 1968, Dies at Age 95 |url=https://www.wsj.com/business/airlines/frank-borman-who-led-historic-flight-around-the-moon-in-1968-dies-at-age-95-489afa09 |access-date=November 9, 2023 |website=WSJ |language=en-US|url-access = subscription}}</ref><ref name="NYT-obituary">
{{cite news
| last         = Goldstein
| first        = Richard
| date         = 9 November 2023
| title        = Frank Borman, Astronaut Who Led First Orbit of the Moon, Dies at 95
| url          = https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/09/science/space/frank-borman-dead.html
| work         = New York Times
| access-date  = 15 November 2023
}}
</ref>

==Character and views==
Borman was once described by a NASA psychiatrist as the least complicated man he had ever met. In his business career he was described as autocratic. He had a [[Leo Tolstoy|Tolstoy]] quotation on a wall in his office: "The only legitimate happiness is honest hard work and the surmounting of obstacles."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/frank-borman-astronaut-dies-apollo-8-nasa-cw07sc8rg | title=Frank Borman, astronaut who led Nasa's Apollo 8 mission around the moon, dies aged 95 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |quote=Tolstoy quotation refers to Tolstoy's views 20 years before his conversion. |page=83 |title=Tolstoy's Pacifism |first=Colm |last=McKeogh }}</ref>

== Awards and honors ==
[[File:Apollo 8 Collier Trophy (69-H-914).jpg|thumb|left|alt=see caption|Apollo 8 crew holding replica Collier Trophy]]
Borman, along with his Gemini&nbsp;7 crewmate Lovell and the Gemini&nbsp;6 crew, received the 1965 [[Harmon Trophy]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Astronauts Named for Harmon Award |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York |date=August 7, 1966 |page=83 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/08/07/archives/astronauts-named-for-harmon-award.html |access-date=May 12, 2019 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511225211/https://www.nytimes.com/1966/08/07/archives/astronauts-named-for-harmon-award.html |archive-date=May 11, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32069952/the_baltimore_sun/ |title=4 Spacemen are Honored |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |location=Baltimore, Maryland |date=August 7, 1966 |page=4 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=June 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607025252/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32069952/the_baltimore_sun/ |archive-date=June 7, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> He and Lovell were awarded the trophy a second time for the Apollo&nbsp;8 mission in 1968.<ref>{{cite news |title=Maj. Gentry Gets Harmon Trophy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/09/08/archives/maj-gentry-gets-harmon-trophy.html |newspaper=The New York Times |page=82 |location=New York |date=September 8, 1969 |access-date=May 12, 2019 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511225223/https://www.nytimes.com/1969/09/08/archives/maj-gentry-gets-harmon-trophy.html |archive-date=May 11, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32070254/fort_lauderdale_news/ |title=AF Major, 3 Astronauts Get Harmons |newspaper=Fort Lauderdale News |location=Fort Lauderdale, Florida |date=September 7, 1969 |page=3E |via=Newspapers.com |agency=United Press International |access-date=May 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607010727/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32070254/fort_lauderdale_news/ |archive-date=June 7, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Apollo&nbsp;8 crew was also awarded the [[Robert J. Collier Trophy]] for "achievement in astronautics".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26977750/alabama_journal/ |title=Apollo 8 Wins Collier Trophy |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Alabama Journal |location=Montgomery, Alabama |via=Newspapers.com |date=May 9, 1969 |page=18 |access-date=January 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108145508/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26977750/alabama_journal/ |archive-date=January 8, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Collier 1960–1969 Recipients |publisher=National Aeronautic Association |url=https://naa.aero/awards/awards-and-trophies/collier-trophy/collier-1960-1969-winners |access-date=May 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180825074817/https://naa.aero/awards/awards-and-trophies/collier-trophy/collier-1960-1969-winners |archive-date=August 25, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Former deputy administrator of NASA and then Secretary of the Air Force [[Robert Seamans|Robert Seamans Jr.]] awarded them the General Thomas D. White USAF Space Trophy at the [[National Geographic Society]],<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Magazine%20Documents/1997/May%201997/0597recs.pdf#page=5 |magazine=Air Force Magazine |title=The Gen. Thomas D. White USAF Space Trophy |date=May 1997 |page=156 |access-date=February 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412120754/http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Magazine%20Documents/1997/May%201997/0597recs.pdf#page=5 |archive-date=April 12, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=hubbard>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33382957/muncie_evening_press/ |title=Hubbard Medal to Borman Crew |newspaper=Muncie Evening Press |location=Muncie, Indiana |date=April 4, 1969 |page=5 |via=Newspapers.com |agency=United Press International |access-date=June 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630052331/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33382957/muncie_evening_press/ |archive-date=June 30, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> and Vice President [[Spiro Agnew]] presented them with the society's [[Hubbard Medal]].<ref name=hubbard /> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine chose the crew of Apollo&nbsp;8 as its [[Time Person of the Year|Men of the Year]] for 1968, recognizing them as the people who most influenced events in the year,<ref name="Men of the Year" /> and they were featured on the January 3, 1969, cover.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19690103,00.html |title=Anders, Borman, Lovell, Men of the Year |access-date=June 29, 2019 |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630053556/http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19690103,00.html |archive-date=June 30, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Astronauts Anders, Borman and Lovell: 1968 |magazine=Person of the Year: A Photo History |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2019712_2019703_2019664,00.html |last=Levinstein |first=Joan |date=January 3, 1969 |publisher=Time |access-date=May 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511225218/http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2019712_2019703_2019664,00.html |archive-date=May 11, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Jim Lovell accepted the [[Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy]] for space achievement from President Richard Nixon on behalf of the Apollo&nbsp;8 crew.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26978415/the_san_francisco_examiner/ |title=Paine Selected as NASA Chief |newspaper=The San Francisco Examiner |agency=Associated Press |via=Newspapers.com |location=San Francisco, California |page=6 |date=March 5, 1969 |access-date=January 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108145454/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26978415/the_san_francisco_examiner/ |archive-date=January 8, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> On October 1, 1978, Borman was awarded the [[Congressional Space Medal of Honor]] for his command of Apollo 8.<ref name="Carter">{{cite web |title=Kennedy Space Center, Florida Remarks at the Congressional Space Medal of Honor Awards Ceremony |publisher=The American Presidency Project |last=Carter |first=Jimmy |date=October 1, 1978 |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/kennedy-space-center-florida-remarks-the-congressional-space-medal-honor-awards-ceremony |access-date=May 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508092220/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/kennedy-space-center-florida-remarks-the-congressional-space-medal-honor-awards-ceremony |archive-date=May 8, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Borman, who built model airplanes throughout much of his life, was awarded the [[Academy of Model Aeronautics]] Distinguished Service Award in 1968.<ref name=ama>{{cite web |url=https://www.modelaircraft.org/files/BormanColFrank.pdf |title=The AMA History Program Presents: Biography of Col. Frank Borman |access-date=June 25, 2016 |date=July 2003 |publisher=Academy of Model Aeronautics |last=Augustus |first=Bruce |work=SAM Speaks |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629165852/https://www.modelaircraft.org/files/BormanColFrank.pdf |archive-date=June 29, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> Borman, along with other recipients such as baseball player [[Mickey Mantle]] and actress [[Polly Bergen]], was awarded the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]] in 1969.<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref> Borman received the honor for the science and exploration category.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26979164/st_louis_postdispatch/ |title=Scholar-Athletes Urged to 'Do Their Thing' |newspaper=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |location=St. Louis, Missouri |date=June 30, 1969 |page=52 |last1=Posen |first1=Bob |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=January 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108145519/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26979164/st_louis_postdispatch/ |archive-date=January 8, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> He was also awarded the [[Society of Experimental Test Pilots]] [[James H. Doolittle Award]] in 1976,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26978979/the_naples_daily_news/ |title=Borman Wins Doolittle Award |date=September 27, 1976 |newspaper=The Naples Daily News |location=Naples, Florida |page=2 |agency=United Press International |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=January 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108145457/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26978979/the_naples_daily_news/ |archive-date=January 8, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> the [[Tony Jannus Award]] in 1986,<ref name="nmmuseum" /> the Airport Operators Council International Downes Award in 1990,<ref>{{cite web |title=Downes Award – Past Winners |publisher=ACI-NA |url=https://aci-na.secure-platform.com/a/page/awards/downes-award/past-downes-winners |access-date=May 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511225213/https://aci-na.secure-platform.com/a/page/awards/downes-award/past-downes-winners |archive-date=May 11, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=ama /> and the NASA Ambassador of Exploration Award in 2012.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=NASA |title=NASA Honors Pioneer Astronaut Frank Borman |url=https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/apr/HQ_M06071_Borman_ambassador.html |access-date=May 15, 2019 |first1=Dean |last1=Acosta |first2=Doc |last2=Mirelson |date=April 27, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131122192028/http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/apr/HQ_M06071_Borman_ambassador.html |archive-date=November 22, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> He was awarded honorary doctorates from [[Whittier College]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.whittier.edu/alumni/poetnation/honorary|title=Honorary Degrees {{!}} Whittier College|website=www.whittier.edu|access-date=January 28, 2020}}</ref> the University of Arizona,<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Arizona Daily Star |title=Borman Defends Space Program: Receives Honorary Degree from UA |page=4 |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35554462/arizona_daily_star/ |date=November 16, 1969 |access-date=September 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903025101/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35554462/arizona_daily_star/ |archive-date=September 3, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[South Dakota School of Mines]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35554523/rapid_city_journal/ |title=Astronaut Receives Honorary Doctorate from Tech |date=March 12, 1969 |newspaper=Rapid City Journal |access-date=September 18, 2019 |location=Rapid City, South Dakota |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903025058/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35554523/rapid_city_journal/ |archive-date=September 3, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Illinois Wesleyan University]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35554692/the_pantagraph/ |title=IWU to Honor Apollo Astronauts |date=March 7, 1969 |newspaper=The Pantagraph |access-date=September 18, 2019 |location=Bloomington, Illinois |page=2 |via=newspapers.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903025059/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35554692/the_pantagraph/ |archive-date=September 3, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> the [[University of Pittsburgh]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35554719/the_pittsburgh_press/ |title=3 Receiving Honorary Pitt Degrees |date=March 28, 1969 |newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press |access-date=September 18, 2019 |location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |page=26 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903025058/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35554719/the_pittsburgh_press/ |archive-date=September 3, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Indiana University]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Honoree: Search Awards: University Honors & Awards |publisher=Indiana University |url=https://honorsandawards.iu.edu/search-awards/honoree.shtml?honoreeID=567 |access-date=September 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017124120/https://honorsandawards.iu.edu/search-awards/honoree.shtml?honoreeID=567 |archive-date=October 17, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> Arizona State University,<ref>{{cite web |title=Past Honorary Degree Recipients |date=February 5, 2009 |publisher=Arizona State University |url=https://graduation.asu.edu/honorary/past |access-date=September 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903030457/https://graduation.asu.edu/honorary/past |archive-date=September 3, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Clarkson University]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Honorary Degrees |publisher=Clarkson University |url=https://www.clarkson.edu/honorary-degrees |access-date=September 18, 2019}}</ref> [[Hope College]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Honorary Degrees |publisher=Hope College |url=https://hope.edu/offices/president/honorary-degrees.html |access-date=September 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190718194855/https://hope.edu/offices/president/honorary-degrees.html |archive-date=July 18, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[Air University (United States Air Force)|Air University]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Air University honors former astronaut with honorary degree |first=Melissa |last=Copeland |date=June 16, 2009 |publisher=Maxwell Air Force Base |url=https://www.maxwell.af.mil/News/Display/Article/421171/air-university-honors-former-astronaut-with-honorary-degree/ |access-date=September 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903025059/https://www.maxwell.af.mil/News/Display/Article/421171/air-university-honors-former-astronaut-with-honorary-degree/ |archive-date=September 3, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Borman was one of ten Gemini astronauts inducted into the [[International Space Hall of Fame]] in 1982.<ref name="nmmuseum" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28841417/albuquerque_journal/ |title=Astronauts Laud Gemini as Precursor to Shuttle |last1=Shay |first1=Erin |newspaper=Albuquerque Journal |location=Albuquerque, New Mexico |date=October 3, 1982 |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=February 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225161908/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28841417/albuquerque_journal/ |archive-date=February 25, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> He and [[Senator Barry Goldwater]] were two of four individuals inducted into the [[National Aviation Hall of Fame]] in 1982.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalaviation.org/enshrinees/ |title=Our Enshrinees |publisher=[[National Aviation Hall of Fame]] |access-date=February 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312033710/http://www.nationalaviation.org/enshrinees/ |archive-date=March 12, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35552939/beatrice_daily_sun/ |title=Hall of Famer |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Beatrice Daily Sun |location=Beatrice, Nebraska |date=July 26, 1982 |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=September 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903020117/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35552939/beatrice_daily_sun/ |archive-date=September 3, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1990, Borman was selected for the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame's inaugural class.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35553792/arizona_daily_star/ |title=Aviation Hall welcomes first four members |last=Henshaw |first=Donine S. |date=April 29, 1990 |work=Arizona Daily Star |access-date=October 3, 2019 |location=Tucson, Arizona |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903022042/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35553792/arizona_daily_star/ |archive-date=September 3, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> He was among the second class that was inducted into the [[United States Astronaut Hall of Fame|U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame]] in 1993.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://astronautscholarship.org/Astronauts/frank-borman/ |publisher=Astronaut Scholarship Foundation |title=Astronauts – Frank Borman |access-date=June 25, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813044406/http://astronautscholarship.org/Astronauts/frank-borman/ |archive-date=August 13, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33582881/florida_today/ |title=Activities Honor Gemini Astronauts |newspaper=Florida Today |location=Cocoa, Florida |date=March 14, 1993 |page=1D |via=Newspapers.com |last1=Clark |first1=Amy |access-date=July 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706075054/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33582881/florida_today/ |archive-date=July 6, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> He was also inducted into the [[International Air & Space Hall of Fame]] in 1990 and the DeMolay International Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://demolay.org/project/colonel-frank-borman/ |title=Colonel Frank Borman: Astronaut |publisher=DeMolay International |access-date=August 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511225229/https://demolay.org/project/colonel-frank-borman/ |archive-date=May 11, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== In media ==
In ''[[From the Earth to the Moon (miniseries)|From the Earth to the Moon]]'', a 1998 [[HBO]] [[miniseries]], Borman was played by [[David Andrews (actor)|David Andrews]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/03/movies/television-review-boyish-eyes-on-the-moon.html |title=Television Review; Boyish Eyes on the Moon |work=The New York Times |date=April 3, 1998 |access-date=August 5, 2018 |last1=James |first1=Caryn |location=New York City |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806061924/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/03/movies/television-review-boyish-eyes-on-the-moon.html |archive-date=August 6, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> He was interviewed in the 2008 [[Discovery Channel]] documentary ''[[When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions]]'',<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cleveland.com/tv/2008/06/post_1.html |title=Discovery launches six-hour series on space program |last=Luttermoser |first=John |date=June 5, 2008 |newspaper=The Plain Dealer |access-date=August 30, 2019 |location=Cleveland, Ohio |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901032308/https://www.cleveland.com/tv/2008/06/post_1.html |archive-date=September 1, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> and appeared in the 2005 documentary ''Race to the Moon'', which was shown as part of the [[PBS]] ''[[American Experience]]'' series. The film centered on the events that led up to the Apollo 8 mission.<ref>{{cite web |title=Watch Race to the Moon |work=American Experience |publisher=PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/moon/ |access-date=September 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523210616/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/moon/ |archive-date=May 23, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> On November 13, 2008, Borman, Lovell and Anders appeared on the [[NASA TV]] channel to discuss Apollo 8 on the 40th anniversary of the mission.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/dec/HQ_M08-268_NASATV_Apollo8.html |title=NASA Television Commemorates Apollo 8 Christmas Eve Broadcast |date=December 22, 2008 |publisher=NASA |last=Feinberg |first=Al |access-date=January 31, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131122181525/http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/dec/HQ_M08-268_NASATV_Apollo8.html |archive-date=November 22, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> Borman was featured on Episode 655 of the radio program ''[[This American Life]]'' titled "The Not-So-Great Unknown", airing on August 24, 2018; his interview with [[David Kestenbaum]] in Act One of the episode titled "So Over the Moon" centered on his unconventional outlook towards space travel.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thisamericanlife.org/655/the-not-so-great-unknown/act-one-1 |title=The Not-So-Great Unknown: Act One |date=August 24, 2018 |work=This American Life |last=Kestenbaum |first=David and maybe |editor-last=Glass |editor-first=Ira |id=Episode No. 655 |access-date=August 27, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827142312/https://www.thisamericanlife.org/655/the-not-so-great-unknown/act-one-1 |archive-date=August 27, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thisamericanlife.org/655/transcript |title=655: The Not-So-Great Unknown |date=August 25, 2018 |work=This American Life|access-date=August 27, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827020900/https://www.thisamericanlife.org/655/transcript|archive-date=August 27, 2018}}</ref> Borman's face was used on the cover of [[Led Zeppelin]]'s [[Led Zeppelin II|second album]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.feelnumb.com/2014/04/26/led-zeppelin-twice-attempted-to-put-neil-armstong-on-album-covers-and-failed/ |title=Led Zeppelin Twice Attempted To Put Neil Armstrong On Album Covers And Failed |author=Raul  |date=April 26, 2014 |publisher=Feelnumb |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429124902/http://feelnumb.com/2014/04/26/led-zeppelin-twice-attempted-to-put-neil-armstong-on-album-covers-and-failed/ |archive-date=April 29, 2014 }}</ref>

== Tributes ==
* [[Interstate 80 in Indiana|I-80]]/[[Interstate 94 in Indiana|I-94]] in [[Lake County, Indiana]], which runs through his birth town of [[Gary, Indiana]], is named the Frank Borman Expressway.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.in.gov/dot/div/specialprojects/borman/about/frank.html |access-date=March 18, 2007 |title=Frank Borman |work=Borman Expressway Reconstruction Project |publisher=Indiana Department of Transportation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070328134505/http://www.in.gov/dot/div/specialprojects/borman/about/frank.html |archive-date=March 28, 2007}}</ref>
* A K–8 school on [[Davis-Monthan Air Force Base]] in [[Tucson]], Arizona, is named in Borman's honor.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://borman.tusd1.schooldesk.net/School-History |title=Borman School History |publisher=Borman K–8 Elementary School – Tucson Unified School District |access-date=January 31, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901213215/http://borman.tusd1.schooldesk.net/School-History |archive-date=September 1, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* A school in [[Phoenix, Arizona]], is named Frank Borman Junior High School.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cartwrightborman.ss12.sharpschool.com/our_school/our_history |title=Our History |publisher=Frank Borman School|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901213048/http://cartwrightborman.ss12.sharpschool.com/our_school/our_history|archive-date=September 1, 2019 |url-status=live |access-date=September 1, 2019}}</ref>
* A school in [[Denton, Texas]], is named Borman Elementary School.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dentonisd.org/domain/6319 |title=About Our School |publisher=Borman Elementary School – Denton ISD|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901212848/https://www.dentonisd.org/domain/6319|archive-date=September 1, 2019 |url-status=live |access-date=September 1, 2019}}</ref>
* A park in [[Gary, Indiana]], is named Borman Square Park.<ref>{{cite web |title=City of Gary, Indiana Comprehensive Plan  |publisher=City of Gary |url=https://www.csu.edu/cerc/researchreports/documents/GaryIndianaComprehensivePlanDraft2008.pdf |access-date=September 5, 2020 }}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last1=Borman |first1=Frank |last2=Serling |first2=Robert J. |author-link2=Robert J. Serling |title=Countdown: An Autobiography |location=New York |publisher=Silver Arrow |date=1988 |isbn=0-688-07929-6 |oclc=17983615 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/countdownautobio0000borm }}
* {{cite book |last1=Brooks |first1=Courtney G. |last2=Grimwood |first2=James M. |last3=Swenson |first3=Loyd S. Jr. |title=Chariots for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft |url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4205/cover.html |access-date=July 20, 2010 |series=NASA History Series |date=1979 |publisher=Scientific and Technical Information Branch, NASA |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0-486-46756-6 |oclc=4664449 |lccn=79001042 |id=SP-4205 }}
* {{cite book |last=Burgess |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Burgess (author) |title=Moon Bound: Choosing and Preparing NASA's Lunar Astronauts |location=New York; London |publisher=Springer |year=2013 |series=Springer-Praxis books in space exploration |isbn=978-1-4614-3854-0 |oclc=905162781 }}
* {{cite magazine |last=Butz |first=J. S. Jr. |magazine=Air Force Magazine |date=September 1963 |title=USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School: Toughest Flying School in the World |pages=55–63 |issn=0730-6784 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Carmichael |first1=Scott W. |title=Moon Men Return: USS ''Hornet'' and the Recovery of the Apollo 11 Astronauts |date=2010 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=978-1-59114-110-5 |oclc=562772897 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Cernan |first1=Eugene |author-link=Gene Cernan |last2=Davis |first2=Don |author-link2=Donald A. Davis |title=The Last Man on the Moon |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-312-19906-7 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/lastmanonmoonast00cern_0}}
* {{cite book |last=Chaikin |first=Andrew |title=A Man on the Moon |year=1994 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-14-027201-7 }}
* {{cite book |last=Collins |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Collins (astronaut) |title=Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys |orig-year=1974 |year=2001 |publisher=Cooper Square Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8154-1028-7 |oclc=1029279420 |url=https://archive.org/details/carryingfire00mich}}
* {{cite book |last=Cullum |first=George W. |title=Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the US Military Academy at West Point New York Since Its Establishment in 1802: Supplement Volume IX 1940–1950 |publisher=R. R. Donnelly and Sons, The Lakeside Press |location=Chicago |year=1950 |url=http://digital-library.usma.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16919coll3/id/22314/rec/10 |access-date=October 6, 2015 }}
* {{cite book |last=Cullum |first=George W. |title=Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the US Military Academy at West Point New York Since Its Establishment in 1802: Supplement Volume X 1950–1960 |publisher=West Point Alumni Foundation |location=West Point, New York |year=1960 }}
* {{cite book |last=Darch |first=Colin |title=Historical Dictionary of Mozambique |year=2018 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham, Maryland |isbn=978-1-5381-1135-2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Davis |first=Vernon E. |title=The Long Road Home: U. S. Prisoner of War Policy and Planning in Southeast Asia |publisher=Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense |location=Washington, D.C. |year=2000 |oclc=725586704 |url=https://history.defense.gov/Portals/70/Documents/pows/TheLongRoadHome.pdf |access-date=September 9, 2019 }}
* {{cite book |last=Eppley |first=Charles V. |title=History of the USAF Experimental Test Pilot School 4 February 1951 – 12 October 1961 |publisher=United States Air Force |date=March 1963 |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/400112.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501054613/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/400112.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 1, 2019 |access-date=February 5, 2019 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Ertel |first1=Ivan D. |last2=Newkirk |first2=Roland W. |last3=Brooks |first3=Courtney G. |title=The Apollo Spacecraft: A Chronology, Volume IV, January 21, 1966 – July 13, 1974 |url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/documents/NTRS/collection3/NASA_SP_4009-4.pdf |access-date=August 1, 2013 |date=1978 |publisher=Scientific and Technical Information Office, NASA |location=Washington, D.C. |id=NASA SP-4009 |oclc=23818 |lccn=69060008 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Hacker |first1=Barton C. |last2=Grimwood |first2=James M. |title=On the Shoulders of Titans: A History of Project Gemini |url=http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4203.pdf |access-date=April 8, 2018 |series=NASA History Series |year=2010 |orig-year=1977 |publisher=NASA History Division, Office of Policy and Plans |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0-16-067157-9 |id=NASA SP-4203 |oclc=945144787 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Jennings |first=Kenneth M. |title=Union-Management Tumult at Eastern Airlines: From Borman to Lorenzo |journal=Transportation Journal |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=13–27 |date=Summer 1989 |jstor=20713006 }}
* {{cite book |last=Mitchell |first=Vance O. |title=Air Force Officers: Personnel Policy Development, 1944–1974 |publisher=U. S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |year=1996 |isbn=0-16-048862-1 |oclc=948120683 |url=https://archive.org/details/AirForceOfficers |access-date=May 11, 2019 |url-access=registration }}
* {{cite book |last=Orloff |first=Richard W. |title=Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference |url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/SP-4029.htm |access-date=June 12, 2013 |series=NASA History Series |year=2000 |publisher=NASA History Division, Office of Policy and Plans |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0-16-050631-4 |lccn=00061677 |id=NASA SP-2000-4029 |oclc=829406439 }}
* {{cite book |last=Shayler |first=David |date=2002 |title=Apollo: The Lost and Forgotten Missions |location=London |publisher=Springer-Praxis books in astronomy and space sciences. |isbn=978-1-85233-575-5 |oclc=443962098 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Slayton |first1=Donald K. "Deke" |author-link1=Deke Slayton |last2=Cassutt |first2=Michael |author-link2=Michael Cassutt |title=Deke! U.S. Manned Space: From Mercury to the Shuttle |year=1994 |publisher=Forge |location=New York |isbn=978-0-312-85503-1 |oclc=937566894 |url=https://archive.org/details/dekeusmannedspac00slay}}
* {{cite book |last1=Stafford |first1=Thomas P. |author-link = Thomas P. Stafford |last2=Cassutt |first2=Michael |author2-link = Michael Cassutt |title=We Have Capture |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press |date=2002 |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-1-58834-070-2 |oclc=829407543 |url=https://archive.org/details/wehavecapturetom00staf}}
* {{cite book |last=Watkins |first=Billy |title=Apollo Moon Missions: The Unsung Heroes |year=2007 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |location=Lincoln, Nebraska |isbn=978-0-8032-6041-2 |oclc=173719164 }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last1=Russell|first1=David Lee|title=Eastern Air Lines: A History, 1926–1991|year=2013|isbn=978-0-7864-7185-0|publisher=McFarland|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last1=Jorgensen|first1=Liisa|title=Far Side of the Moon: Apollo 8 Commander Frank Borman and the Woman Who Gave Him Wings|year=2021|isbn=9781641606066|publisher=Chicago Review Press, Incorporated|ref=none}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|auto=yes}}
* {{C-SPAN|58295}}
* {{IMDb name|0974342}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-bef|before=[[John Glenn]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Oldest Living American Astronaut|years=2016–2023}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Jim Lovell]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{People who have traveled to the Moon|state=expanded}}
{{Time Persons of the Year}}
{{Congressional Space Medal of Honor}}
{{NASA Astronaut Group 2|state=autocollapse}}
{{Gemini program}}
{{U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame}}

{{Portal bar|Biography|Aviation|Spaceflight|Solar System|Indiana|United States}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borman, Frank}}
[[Category:Frank Borman| ]]
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:2023 deaths]]
[[Category:1965 in spaceflight]]
[[Category:1968 in spaceflight]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:American aerospace engineers]]
[[Category:American airline chief executives]]
[[Category:American autobiographers]]
[[Category:American chief operating officers]]
[[Category:American flight instructors]]
[[Category:American people of German descent]]
[[Category:American test pilots]]
[[Category:Apollo 8]]
[[Category:Apollo program astronauts]]
[[Category:Aviators from Indiana]]
[[Category:California Institute of Technology alumni]]
[[Category:Collier Trophy recipients]]
[[Category:Eastern Air Lines]]
[[Category:Engineers from Indiana]]
[[Category:Harmon Trophy winners]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Tucson, Arizona]]
[[Category:National Aviation Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:People from Gary, Indiana]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)]]
[[Category:Recipients of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal]]
[[Category:Recipients of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal]]
[[Category:Tucson High School alumni]]
[[Category:U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School alumni]]
[[Category:United States Air Force astronauts]]
[[Category:United States Air Force colonels]]
[[Category:United States Astronaut Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:United States Military Academy alumni]]
[[Category:Project Gemini astronauts]]
[[Category:NASA Astronaut Group 2]]