Frank Borman dies age 95

[Startrek]

Gemini 7 and Apollo 8 commander Frank Borman passed away last week aged 95.
A graduate from Westpoint , Fighter pilot , Engineer and Astronaut, Borman was one of only 3 men to first witness “Earth Rise” from the Lunar horizon on the Apollo 8 mission in 1968.
I remember as a youngster watching the live broadcasts of Apollo 8 on my parents B&W TV, it’s hard to believe this incredible event happened nearly 55 years ago.
Borman was a stern military man and was chosen for his experience, leadership and discipline for the first trip to the moon.

A pioneer of the Apollo era
RIP ……

[ChrisD]

Sadly we also lost Ken Mattingly around 2 weeks ago.

Chris

[Peter Ward]

Often referred to as the "greatest generation" it's not hard to see why.
They were pioneers that laid the foundations to what many take for granted today.

They also accepted considered risk.

Sadly, Australia in 2023 is pathetically risk averse.

e.g. 23km long traffic jam in Sydney today the sprinkler system in road tunnel failed after a test....with the transport minister bleating "we have to put safety first".

I think lack of sprinklers for a few hours would not have led to anything catastrophic.

[Startrek]

Thanks Chris
I suppose thankfully he had suspected measles before the ill fated Apollo 13 mission and was replaced by Jack Swigert. But he did fly a textbook mission as command module pilot on Apollo 16.
Another great American aviator and astronaut
Martin

[Startrek]

Peter,
Totally agree
Today industry and business in general is so heavily regulated and accountable to government and its own internal industry regulators that’s it’s a wonder we make any progress at all.
Risk analysis and mitigation is a huge factor today and if the same principles were applied to the Apollo Programme back in the 60’s we probably would never had launched a Saturn 5 before the end of that decade. Out of the thirteen Saturn 5’s launched between 1967 and 1973 , not one had a major failure.

Look at what happening with the second Starship integrated flight test at the moment , and it’s just an unmanned test for goodness sake.All modifications, recommendations and compliances were met months ago. Still waiting endlessly on government bureaucracy to give it the green light.
Musk is talking about launching these behemoths every week in a few years time. Don’t know about that with what’s happening at the moment with US Government regulatory approvals.

Martin

[Max Vondel]

Frank Borman was a great man. R.I.P