Frank Borman, a NASA astronaut who commanded Apollo 8, the first crewed mission to orbit the Moon and return safely to Earth, and later as chief executive of Eastern Air Lines piloted the carrier through a turbulent business climate that led to its takeover and eventual demise, died Nov. 7 at a medical center in Billings, Mont.
Mr. Borman, who lived at a retirement community in Billings, died one week after fellow astronaut Ken Mattingly, who helped bring Apollo 13 home following an onboard explosion.
Mr. Borman coordinated the Apollo 8 crew’s live Christmas Eve message, during which the three astronauts read from the first 10 verses of Genesis, their television camera trained through the capsule’s window, toward the moon.
When director of flight crew operations Deke Slayton sent small bottles of contraband brandy on Apollo 8 for the astronauts to enjoy as a Christmas treat, Mr. Borman refused to let anyone partake.
“The Colonel,” as Eastern employees called him for his Air Force rank, banned alcohol at events for corporate executives and did away with other perks for senior managers.
When the U.S. government began deregulating the nation’s airlines in 1978, Eastern wasn’t equipped to ride out the instability, industry analyst Richard Aboulafia said in an interview for this obituary.
The original article contains 1,538 words, the summary contains 211 words. Saved 86%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
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Frank Borman, a NASA astronaut who commanded Apollo 8, the first crewed mission to orbit the Moon and return safely to Earth, and later as chief executive of Eastern Air Lines piloted the carrier through a turbulent business climate that led to its takeover and eventual demise, died Nov. 7 at a medical center in Billings, Mont.
Mr. Borman, who lived at a retirement community in Billings, died one week after fellow astronaut Ken Mattingly, who helped bring Apollo 13 home following an onboard explosion.
Mr. Borman coordinated the Apollo 8 crew’s live Christmas Eve message, during which the three astronauts read from the first 10 verses of Genesis, their television camera trained through the capsule’s window, toward the moon.
When director of flight crew operations Deke Slayton sent small bottles of contraband brandy on Apollo 8 for the astronauts to enjoy as a Christmas treat, Mr. Borman refused to let anyone partake.
“The Colonel,” as Eastern employees called him for his Air Force rank, banned alcohol at events for corporate executives and did away with other perks for senior managers.
When the U.S. government began deregulating the nation’s airlines in 1978, Eastern wasn’t equipped to ride out the instability, industry analyst Richard Aboulafia said in an interview for this obituary.
The original article contains 1,538 words, the summary contains 211 words. Saved 86%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!