Departures

Frank Borman

An Apollo program astronaut who was among the first to see the far side of the moon, Borman died Nov. 7, aged 95. After graduating from West Point, Borman pursued a career as an Air Force pilot before being recruited into a test pilot program for experimental aircraft. He joined NASA in 1962 and six years later commanded the Apollo 8 mission, during which he, James Lovell, and William Anders became the first humans to leave low Earth orbit and the first to orbit the moon. While circling the moon, the three astronauts read from Genesis 1 for a Christmas Eve TV broadcast. As it ­concluded, Borman said, “God bless all of you—all of you on the good Earth.”

Bob Knight

Knight, a legendary basketball coach whose record-breaking accomplishments were matched by a fiery temper, died Nov. 1. He was 83. Knight took over as head basketball coach for the U.S. Military Academy in 1965 at just 24 years old. After a successful stint leading the West Point team, Knight became head men’s basketball coach at Indiana University, a position he held for 29 years. While at Indiana, Knight piled up 662 wins along with national ­championships in 1976, 1981, and 1987. But as the accolades piled up, so did staffers’ and former players’ accusations of outbursts and abusive behavior. Indiana fired Knight in 2000. He finished his coaching career at Texas Tech, finally retiring in 2008 with 902 career coaching victories, a record at the time.