COLONEL FRANK BORMAN - TYPED STATEMENT SIGNED - HFSID 250646

FRANK BORMAN
Frank Borman signs a typed statement about his reaction to hearing about the launch of Sputnik I on October 4, 1957.
Typed Statement signed: "Frank Borman", 1p, 8½x11. On letterhead of National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas. In full: "I was teaching mechanics at West Point when it happened. Heard it on the radio. My feelings were similar to most Americans-astonishment and concern. I had not even considered the possibility of a Sputnik or a satellite, let alone the Russians getting one up first. As things developed, it changed my career. Our space program is in disarray. The Russians have clearly demonstrated a fundamental lead in operations in near Earth orbit, and it will probably take us years to match and get the same type of capability. We need to have a follow-up to the Space Shuttle on the drawing boards, even if it's nothing but a revisited Saturn 1-B with an Apollo on it. We have to be certain that we can get back and forth to the Space Station with some degree of reliability." Typed beneath Borman's comments: "Frank Borman, Gemini and Apollo Astronaut, describing his reaction to hearing about the launch of Sputnik I on October 4, 1957". Frank Borman (born in 1928), selected as an astronaut in 1962, was part of the two-man crew of the Gemini 7 in December 1965. On December 15, he and Jim Lovell participated in the first space rendezvous mission, coming within a foot of Gemini 6, manned by Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra. Borman led the first team of American astronauts, including Lovell and William Anders, to circle the Moon as Commander of the 1968 Apollo 8 mission. After retiring from NASA, Borman joined Eastern Airlines in 1969 as a special advisor. In 1975, he was elected President and Chief Operating Officer of Eastern, becoming Chief Executive Officer in 1975 and Chairman of the Board in December 1976. Borman retired from Eastern in 1986, five years before the airline ceased to exist. Lightly creased. Fine condition.