WASHINGTON: William Anders, the previous American astronaut who took the historic “Earthrise” picture from area over 55 years in the past, died in a airplane crash on Friday (Jun 7) on the age of 90, his household stated.
Anders had been piloting a small airplane which crashed off the coast of Washington state on Friday morning, his son instructed US media. Anders was alone within the airplane.
His physique was later recovered by a dive workforce, The Seattle Instances reported, quoting a Coast Guard spokesperson.
A member of the Apollo 8 mission in December 1968, Anders turned one of many first people to orbit the Moon, together with fellow Individuals Frank Borman and James Lovell.
The crew circled the Moon 10 occasions with out touchdown, earlier than efficiently returning to Earth on Dec 27, 1968.
On one of many lunar orbits, Anders captured a photograph of the brilliant blue Earth in opposition to the huge darkness of area, with the Moon’s cratered floor within the foreground.
“We would been going backwards and the wrong way up, did not actually see the Earth or the Solar, and once we rolled round and got here round and noticed the primary Earthrise,” he stated in a 1997 NASA oral historical past interview.
“(T)hat definitely was, by far, probably the most spectacular factor. To see this very delicate, colourful orb which to me seemed like a Christmas tree decoration arising over this very stark, ugly lunar panorama.”
The “Earthrise” picture is ceaselessly listed in roundups of key historic photos, and was included in Life Journal’s guide “100 Pictures that Modified The World.”
An unique model of the picture offered at a Copenhagen public sale in 2022 for €11,800 (US$12,748).
“In 1968, throughout Apollo 8, Invoice Anders supplied to humanity among the many deepest of items an astronaut may give,” NASA chief Invoice Nelson wrote on social media platform X.
“He traveled to the brink of the Moon and helped all of us see one thing else: ourselves. He embodied the teachings and the aim of exploration. We are going to miss him,” Nelson added.
