The former Apollo VIII astronaut, William Anderswho in 1968 took the iconic photo showing the Earth rising above the horizon of the Moon, died this Friday at the age of 90. when the small plane he was traveling in crashed in SeattleNASA confirmed.
The U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Northwest Division and the San Juan Sheriff’s Office responded this afternoon to a call about an accident between Orcas Island and Johns Island, Washington State. an old model of a small plane that sank when it fell into the water, according to NBC. It was unknown at the time how many people were on the ship.
Former astronaut and former executive vice president of Textron Inc. Anders was born on October 17, 1933, in Hong Kong., then a British colony. Graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1955, he obtained a degree in nuclear engineering from the Institute of Technology at the Wright-Patterson military base in 1962. Anders participated in the air defense interceptor squadrons, and later was an engineer and instructor pilot at the Kirtland, New Mexico aviation laboratory.
Selected by NASA in 1963was a pilot of the Gemini XI program, on its 1966 mission. He was also the youngest of the astronauts of the Apollo VIII program, in December 1968.
“In 1968, during Apollo VIII, Will 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.”indicated NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on the agency’s X account, commenting on Anders’ death.
Story of a photo
December 24, 1968Anders, along with astronauts Frank Borman, who was the mission commander, and Jim Lovell became the first to orbit the moon and the first to witness that image that was captured in the famous photo.
While the spacecraft was in the process of rotating, Anders took that iconic photograph, ““Earthrise”which shows the Earth rising above the moon’s horizon.
In 2018, the International Astronomical Union commemorated the event by naming a 25-mile-diameter crater “Anders’ Earthrise.”. The photo allowed the planet to be seen from a great distance for the first time.
“When the Earth appeared above the lunar horizon, that’s when I was really struck by how much more delicate and colorful the Earth was.”Anders said in a 2018 interview with Today Show upon completing 50 years of that innovative mission.
After 25 hours of flight Anders began taking photographs. The former astronaut also said in that interview that he believed he had a one in three chance of not surviving the Apollo VIII mission.
Between 1969 and 1973 he served as executive secretary of the national aeronautical and special council. From 1973 to 1974 he served as commissioner of the Atomic Energy Commission.. And, from 1974 to 1976, he was head of the commission for nuclear regulation.
Starting in 1982, he went into reserve as a general in the United States Air Force. and since 1984 he was executive vice president of Textron Inc. in Rhode Island, United States.
