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Frank Borman, II was born on March 14, 1928. He is a retired NASA astronaut, best remembered as the Commander of Apollo 8, the first mission to fly around the Moon, making him, along with fellow crew mates Jim Lovell and Bill Anders, the first of only 24 humans to do so. He was also the chief executive officer (CEO) of Eastern Air Lines from 1975 to 1986. Frank Borman is a recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. In the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, Borman was played by David Andrews.

Borman flew two flights while at NASA. He is one of just five astronauts to fly a first mission as a Commander (the others being James McDivitt, Gerald Carr, Neil Armstrong, and Joe Engle). He commanded Gemini 7 in 1965 with astronaut Jim Lovell. This was the long-endurance flight of the Gemini program, staying in orbit for fourteen days. The mission also featured the first space rendezvous, with Gemini 6A. Gemini 7 was the target vehicle while Gemini 6A actively pursued. Upon achieving rendezvous, they took turns flying around each other taking both still pictures and movies. The two craft came within 0.3 meter (one foot) of each other.

Borman's second flight was as commander of the Apollo 8 mission in December 1968. He flew with James Lovell again, and also with Bill Anders. The mission was originally planned as a Saturn V-powered "Large Earth Orbit" mission to test tracking and communication, but this was changed into the first lunar orbit mission because the Lunar Module planned for the mission would not be ready for the December liftoff. Apollo 8 went into lunar orbit and made ten orbits of the Moon in December 1968.