Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders has died at the age of 90 after his private airplane crashed in Washington State. Anders is most famous for his 1968 “Earthrise” photo he snapped from the command module.
Apollo Astronaut William Anders Dies In Airplane Crash
Apollo 8, which took place in late December 1968, was the first crewed spacecraft to leave Earth’s gravitational sphere of influence, and also the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon, orbiting it 10 times without landing.
One of the crewmembers was William Anders, born in British Hong Kong in 1933 (due to his father’s military assignment). He attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis and later pivoted to the United States Air Force as an officer after earning his bachelor’s degree. He became a fighter pilot (flying Northrop F-89 Scorpions), but in 1964, the Air Force selected him as an astronaut.
For decades after his military service ended, Anders continued to fly. On Friday morning, Ander’s private Beech A45 turboprop aircraft crashed between the Orcas and Jones islands, about 80 miles north of Seattle in San Juan County.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson wrote:
“In 1968, during Apollo 8, Bill Anders offered to humanity among the deepest of gifts an astronaut can give. He traveled to the threshold of the Moon and helped all of us see something else: ourselves. He embodied the lessons and the purpose of exploration. We will miss him.”
In 1968, during Apollo 8, Bill Anders offered to humanity among the deepest of gifts an astronaut can give. He traveled to the threshold of the Moon and helped all of us see something else: ourselves. He embodied the lessons and the purpose of exploration. We will miss him. pic.twitter.com/wuCmfHpu3g
— Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) June 8, 2024
I’ll always remember Anders not only for his famous photo, but for his reading of Genesis 1 from the Hebrew Bible on Christmas Eve in 1968. It fell on Borman to draft something for the holiday message broadcast on network TV, but he felt his initial “peace on Earth” drafts sounded too cliché, especially in light of the US involvement in the Vietnam War.
So instead, Anders, Jim Lovell, and Frank Borman read verses 1 through 10 of the Genesis creation narrative (Anders read verses 1–4, Lovell verses 5–8, and Borman read verses 9 and 10):
This was not the US government trying to impose Judeo-Christian beliefs on the country or world, but a conciliatory message in a time of war and a stark contrast to the communist USSR amid a great space race.
His iconic image became one of the most famous postage stamps ever issued by the United States Postal Service and one that my father kept at the front of his little red “stamp folder” at his desk, a memento I treasure.
Well done, Bill Anders.
images: NASA/NASA/USPS
I was shocked to see this too. Up until the end of last year, Apollo 8 was one of the last intact Apollo crews. It’s sad he didn’t die of natural age in his late 90s but as much as the crash is terrible it is a fitting end for someone who obviously loved aviation. To still be flying at 90 means he really did enjoy it. Society really has gone backward. We had Apollo that put men on the moon on the backs of German rocket engineers, we had the Concorde, and the 747. We had bypasses and angioplasty in the late 70s. Other than computers, Ipads, and smartphones, true innovation is dead and things get worse. Sure, lie flat seats are cooler than first class seats from 50 years ago but we’d all probably be happier back in time.
I wouldn’t say Judeo-Christian as it pretends the two aren’t vehemently opposite and far apart. Islam actually recognizes Jesus as a real person sent from God but of course we wouldn’t put the two words together.
@David … Your first paragraph is spot-on .
On the other hand , for myself , I would say ‘Judeo-Christian’ because it applies exactly to me , and I am agreeable with each of my halves . Plus , the Ten Commandments are for everyone , not only us “Judeo-Christians” .
@Alert are the Ten Commandments also for Donald Trump?
Same silly political question goes to Joe Biden.