Former NASA astronaut William Anders, member of the Apollo 8 lunar mission and writer of the well-known “Earthrise” {photograph}, died on Friday on the age of 90 in a aircraft crash, his son introduced to the CNN tv channel.
“My father died in a aircraft crash within the San Juan Islands”, within the northwest of america, his son Gregory Anders advised the American media.
On Friday, native authorities indicated that an older mannequin aircraft had crashed late this morning close to the coast of one of many San Juan Islands, within the US state of Washington.
His physique was later recovered by a workforce of divers, a Coast Guard spokeswoman mentioned within the Seattle Occasions. An investigation has been opened to find out the circumstances of this accident.
A brand new take a look at the World
William Anders marked house exploration with an iconic {photograph}, “Earthrise”, taken in the course of the Apollo 8 mission, the primary to orbit the Moon. On this photograph from Christmas Eve 1968, the blue planet stands out from the darkness, with the floor of the moon within the foreground.
Former astronaut William Anders’ photograph, taken on December 24, 1968, throughout NASA’s Apollo 8 mission, exhibits the Earth behind the floor of the moon. [KEYSTONE – WILLIAM ANDERS]
He “gave humanity probably the most treasured presents an astronaut may give. He traveled to the brink of the Moon and helped us all see one thing else: ourselves”, wrote NASA Administrator Invoice Nelson on X . “We’ll miss.”
William Anders “modified our view of our planet and ourselves endlessly together with his well-known {photograph} […] He impressed me, in addition to the generations of astronauts,” answered former NASA astronaut and US Senator Mark Kelly on the identical social community.
In an interview with Forbes in 2015, William Anders believed that if his photograph attracted a lot consideration it confirmed the wonder and fragility of our planet, and that it “helped begin the environmental motion”.
Astronaut, federal civil servant and CEO
The Apollo 8 mission started in December 1968 with William Anders and two different astronauts, Frank Borman and James Lovell, on board. Of the three members of the Apollo 8 mission, solely James Lovell remains to be alive. Frank Borman died in November 2023 on the age of 95.
![The Apollo 8 crew on December 18, 1968, in front of the mission simulator at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, before training for their six-day lunar orbital mission. From left to right, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, Lunar Module Pilot William Anders, and Commander Frank Borman. [KEYSTONE]](https://img.rts.ch/articles/2024/image/pt7tc3-28531372.image?mw=1280 "The Apollo 8 crew on December 18, 1968, in front of the mission simulator at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, before training for their six-day lunar orbital mission. From left to right, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, Lunar Module Pilot William Anders, and Commander Frank Borman. [KEYSTONE]")
Earlier than becoming a member of NASA, William Anders was a fighter pilot in america Military. After hanging up his astronaut go well with, he held varied positions inside the federal administration, most notably being the primary president of the Nuclear Regulatory Fee, then the US ambassador to Norway.
By the early Nineteen Nineties, he was CEO of the protection and aerospace firm Normal Dynamics.
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