Frank Borman, Commander of first crew to orbit moon, dies at 95

Former NASA astronaut Frank Borman, who commanded the first crew to orbit the moon, died Tuesday at the age of 95, in Billings, Montana, according to a statement from NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

Borman, who began his career as an officer in the Air Force, commanded the Apollo 8 mission, which along with two crewmates, orbited the moon ten times. They were the first humans to see the far side of the moon, which is always facing away from Earth, according to Space.com.

The images the crew obtained helped NASA pick future sites where astronauts would land on the moon.

“In addition to his critical role as commander of the Apollo 8 mission, he is a veteran of Gemini 7, spending 14 days in low-Earth orbit and conducting the first rendezvous in space, coming within a few feet of the Gemini 6 spacecraft,” Nelson said.