Frank Frederick Borman II (born March 14, 1928, in Gary, Indiana, died November 7, 2023, in Billings, Montana) was an American astronaut, United States Air Force colonel, aeronautical engineer and test pilot, best known as commander of Apollo 8, the first crewed mission to orbit the Moon.
He flew in space twice. From December 4 to 18, 1965, he commanded the two‑man spacecraft Gemini 7 with James Lovell, spending two weeks in orbit in a then‑record endurance flight whose objectives included an on‑orbit rendezvous with Gemini 6A; during more than five hours of formation flying, the two vehicles came as close as about 30 centimeters to one another.
From December 21 to 27, 1968, Borman commanded Apollo 8, flying with James Lovell and William Anders on the first human mission to leave Earth orbit, enter orbit around the Moon, circle it ten times and then return safely to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. Across his two missions he spent a total of about 19 days, 21 hours, 36 minutes in space, helping demonstrate that humans could live and work in weightlessness for the durations required for lunar exploration.
