William Anders, an astronaut on the NASA «Apollo 8» mission in 1968, who took the iconic photograph «Earthrise», died in a plane crash. He was 90 years old.
«Dad died in a plane crash in the San Juan Islands. The family is devastated and grieving the loss of an outstanding pilot,» Gregory Anders, the astronaut’s son, said on Friday evening.
The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release that the plane went down off the coast of Jones Island. The dispatch center received the first report at around 11:40 a.m. Pacific time: «An older model airplane was flying north-south and then crashed into the water near the northern tip of Jones Island and sank». The US Coast Guard announced that the pilot’s body was recovered by a dive team after a multi-agency search that covered 215 nautical miles. The San Juan Islands are located about 90 miles north of Seattle.
William Anders was born on October 17, 1933, in Hong Kong and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1955. The following year, after being commissioned into the US Air Force, he was promoted to pilot. Anders served as a fighter pilot in the Air Defense Command’s all-weather interceptor squadrons in California and Iceland. During his time at the U.S. Air Force Weapons Laboratory in New Mexico, Anders was responsible for managing nuclear reactor protection and radiation exposure programs.
In 1964, Anders was selected as a NASA astronaut and served as a backup pilot for the Gemini 11 mission in 1966 and the Apollo 11» flight in 1969. According to NASA, Anders has flown over 6000 hours.
Anders and his fellow astronauts Jim Lovell and mission commander Frank Borman, who died in November 2023, took off aboard the first lunar orbital mission in December «Apollo 8» 1968 on. Anders was the lunar module pilot during the historic flight.
From the spacecraft, Anders took the iconic photo of the Earth, which depicts the surface of the Moon and the Earth above it on Christmas Eve 1968, titled «Earthrise».
«We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered — the Earth», — Anders said.
«Suddenly I looked out the window, and this beautiful balloon was rising», — Anders described the Earth.
«It made me realize that the Earth is small, tender and not the center of the universe».
In 1968, Anders, Lovell, and Bormann were recognized by Time magazine as «People of the Year».
Anders served as executive secretary of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration from 1969 to 1973. President Gerald Ford appointed him as the first chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is responsible for nuclear safety and environmental compatibility.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on Friday wrote on X Twitter: «Bill Anders offered humanity one of the greatest gifts an astronaut can give. He traveled to the doorstep of the moon and helped us all see something different: ourselves. He embodied the lessons and purpose of exploration. We will miss him».
Source: CNN