preview

Frank Borman's Life And Accomplishments

Decent Essays

Frank Borman Frank Borman grew to fame as captain of the Apollo 8 mission, the first manned mission to the moon. But, his triumphant story doesn’t start there. Frank was born in 1928 in Gary, Indiana where his father owned a very successful garage business. But, because of the dampness that often came over the town, Frank would get constant colds and mastoid infections. So, his family left Gray, Indiana and headed for a more dry and warm place, Tucson, Arizona.
Since he was a young boy Borman had a knack for planes, especially model ones. So, when he was a senior in high school he decided what he truly wanted to do was fly airplanes. Borman ended up going to West Point, the military academy, and he thrived there as a young plebe.
After …show more content…

However on the day of the Agena launch it was unable to launch. So it was decided that now, because the Gemini 6 could not dock with the Agena, that the Gemini 6 mission would be bumped to a later date so that it could launch and, instead of docking, come within feet of the Gemini 7. This procedure went flawlessly and proved that our space technology as good enough to some within reach of another object in space.
Five days after coming right up next to Gemini 6 the Gemini 7 mission was complete. Frank Borman and Jim Lovell had successfully spent 14 days, 206 orbits, in space. Their success proved that the human body could sustain the time in space needed to get to the moon. Later, Jim Lovell would go on to fly the Gemini 12 and finish the Gemini missions off with a bang.
Years later, Frank Borman was assigned as captain of the Apollo 9 mission with Mike Collins and Bill Anders. However, when Mike Collins began to have back problems he was switched out with Jim Lovell. One day, during a simulation, Frank received a call saying that the Apollo 8 mission was changed to a lunar orbit flight and that Borman and his crew would be flying the Apollo 8 mission. The news was pretty sudden and meant that the team would have to work hard to get ready. In the end, the Apollo 8 mission went well and touched down on December 27,

Get Access