In 1968, astronaut Franco Borman, better known as Frank Borman, led the first Apollo mission to the Moon in humanity’s historic initial foray away from Earth. This milestone marked the return of the US Space Agency (Nasa), after a fatal accident and giving America space age bragging rights.
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Borman died last November 7 in Billings, Montana, after suffering a stroke at a retirement community, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Jim McCarthy, a family spokesman.
It was the only thing in space that had any color. Everything The rest was black or white, but not the Earth
During their Apollo 8 mission, Borman, James Lovell and William Anders traveled 378,000 kilometers (235,000 miles) each way and completed 10 orbits around the Moon, paving the way for the first Apollo Moon landing 11 months later.
In commanding the mission, Borman became a central figure in what was then the boldest step in the American space program, a goal so unthinkable that when President John F. Kennedy set a manned moon landing as the American goal just seven years earlier, NASA did not achieve it.
The three astronauts flew about 69 miles from the Moon and became the first humans to see its hidden side, which is always far from Earth.
Borman was a living legend for astronauts.
On its fourth pass, on December 24, 1968, Anders photographed the Earth appearing to “rise” above the grayish-white lunar surface as the crew marveled at the sight.
“It was the most beautiful and moving vision of my life, one that sent a torrent of nostalgia, pure nostalgia, washing over me. It was the only thing in space that had any color. Everything The rest was black or white, but not the Earth. It was mostly a soft, peaceful blue, the continents outlined in a pinkish brown. And always the white clouds, like long cotton stripes suspended above that immense globe,” Borman later recalled.
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