Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders, who took iconic Earthrise photo, dies in plane crash

Friday Harbour, Washington: Retired Major General William Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic “Earthrise” photo showing the planet as a shadowed blue marble from space in 1968, was killed when the plane he was piloting plummeted into the waters off the San Juan Islands in Washington state. He was 90. His son, Greg Anders, confirmed the death to the Associated Press.

Apollo 8 crew, from left, James Lovell Jr, William Anders and Frank Borman in their space suits in 1968.Credit: Getty

“The family is devastated,” Greg Anders said. “He was a great pilot and we will miss him terribly.”

Anders said the photo was his most significant contribution to the space program, given the ecological philosophical impact it had, along with making sure the Apollo 8 command module and service module worked.

Earlier, a report came in that an older-model plane had crashed into the water and sank near the north end of Jones Island, San Juan County Sheriff Eric Peter said.

Only the pilot was on board the Beech A45 plane at the time, according to the Federal Aviation Association.

William Anders took this shot of the Earth rising beyond the surface of the moon during the Apollo 8 mission on December 24, 1968.Credit: William Anders/NASA/AP

William Anders said in a 1997 NASA oral history interview that he didn’t think the Apollo 8 mission was risk-free but there were important national, patriotic and exploration reasons for going ahead.

He estimated there was a one-in-three chance that the crew wouldn’t make it back and the same chance the mission would be a success and the same chance that the mission wouldn’t start to begin with. He said he suspected Christopher Columbus sailed with worse odds.

He recounted how Earth looked fragile and seemingly physically insignificant from the moon, yet was home.

“We’d been going backwards and upside down, didn’t really see the Earth or the sun, and when we rolled around and came around and saw the first Earthrise,” he said.

“That certainly was, by far, the most impressive thing. To see this very delicate, colourful orb which to me looked like a Christmas tree ornament coming up over this very stark, ugly lunar landscape really contrasted.”

AP

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