With a passion for flying, Frank Borman learned to fly at age 15. After graduating from the U.S. Military Academy in 1950, he was commissioned in the U.S. Air Force, serving with the 44th Fighter Bomber Squadron in the Philippines between 1951 and 1956. He subsequently taught at the Air Force Fighter Weapons School. After taking his master's degree in aeronautical engineering at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Borman taught at West Point and at the Air Force Aerospace Research Pilots School. In 1962 he was chosen by NASA to be a member of the second group of astronauts. In Gemini 7, with James Lovell, he made the first space rendezvous with Gemini 6. On December 21st 1968, Borman, Anders and Lovell became the first men to leave earth's gravity and orbit the moon. Apollo 8 gave us our first close-up view of the lunar surface and of the moon's back side. After the Apollo 8 flight he became deputy director of flight-crew operations for NASA. Frank Borman left NASA in 1970 and later served for many years as chief executive officer of Eastern Airlines.
Inducted in 1990.
Portrait Location: Space Gallery

Induction Video