Retired astronaut William Anders, part of the first trio to orbit the moon and famed for capturing the iconic “Earthrise” image during the Apollo 8 mission, tragically passed away in a plane crash in Washington state, as reported by local media.
Anders, aged 90, was alone in the aircraft when it crashed off the coast of Jones Island in the San Juan Islands archipelago, as confirmed by his son Greg to The Seattle Times. The vintage Air Force T-34 Mentor plane, owned by Anders, was piloted by him, according to KCPQ-TV, a Tacoma-based Fox affiliate.
Video footage from KCPQ showed the aircraft plunging steeply from the sky before hitting the water near the shore. The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office has yet to confirm the incident in response to Reuters’ inquiry.
A graduate of the US Naval Academy and an Air Force pilot, Anders joined NASA in 1963 and flew to space for the first time on December 21, 1968, aboard Apollo 8, the pioneering mission that ventured beyond Earth’s orbit to the moon.
As a member of the Apollo 8 crew, which included Frank Borman and James Lovell, Anders contributed to capturing the historic “Earthrise” photograph and participated in a memorable reading from the Book of Genesis during the mission’s Christmas Eve broadcast.
Did someone say #WorldPhotographyDay? We love planet-size celebrations! Here's one of the most iconic shots of our big, blue marble: Earth as seen by the crew of Apollo 8. https://t.co/7rukuVsfrk
Once @NASAArtemis I reaches the Moon, we'll have new Earthrise images to share. pic.twitter.com/dLTTX3V0tu
— NASA (@NASA) August 19, 2022
Their successful mission was celebrated nationwide, and the crew was hailed as Time magazine’s “Men of the Year,” setting the stage for subsequent lunar explorations, including the Apollo 11 moon landing.
