Anders’ son Greg confirmed that his father’s body was recovered Friday afternoon. “The family is devastated. He was a great pilot. We will miss you“he said in a statement.
william anders2.jpg
Who was William Anders
“In 1968, during the Apollo 8, Bill Anders offered humanity one of the most profound gifts an astronaut can give. “He traveled to the threshold of the Moon and helped us all see something else: ourselves,” said the NASA administrator. Bill Nelsonin the agency’s X account.
Anders, who He was a lunar module pilot on the Apollo 8 mission.took the iconic photograph of Earthrise (Dawn of the Earth), one of the most memorable and inspiring images of our planet from space.
Taken on Christmas Eve during the 1968 missionthe first manned space flight to leave Earth and reach the Moon, The image shows the planet rising above the horizon from the arid lunar surface.
Anders later described it as his most significant contribution to the space program. The image is widely credited with motivating the global environmental movement. and lead to the creation of Earth dayan annual event to promote activism and awareness about caring for the planet.
Speaking of the moment, Anders said: “We came here to explore the Moon, and the most important thing we discovered was the Earth”.
Anders also served as a backup pilot for the Apollo 11 mission. Following his retirement from the space program in 1969, The former astronaut worked mainly in the aerospace industry for several decades. He also served as US ambassador to Norway for a year in the 1970s. But, He is best remembered for the Apollo 8 mission and the iconic photograph he took from space.
Embed
