Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders has died at 90 years old, NASA administrator Bill Nelson said on Friday.
Astronaut William Anders, of NASA’s Apollo 8 mission, during a panel interview held at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois, April 5, 2018.
J.B. Spector/Museum of Science and Industry Chicago/Getty Images
Anders took the iconic Earthrise photograph, showing the moon’s surface and Earth in lunar orbit, on Christmas Eve in 1968 during the Apollo 8 mission.
Earthrise – Apollo 8, December 24, 1968. This view of the rising Earth greeted the Apollo 8 astronauts as they came from behind the Moon after the fourth nearside orbit. The photo, by astronaut William Anders, is displayed here in its original orientation, though it is more commonly viewed with the lunar surface at the bottom of the photo.
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Portrait of the crew of NASA’s Apollo 8, Florida, December 1968. Pictured are, from left, command module pilot James Lovell, lunar module pilot William Anders, and Commander Frank Borman.
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The Apollo 8 crew was composed of commander Frank Borman, lunar module pilot Anders and command module pilot James Lovell. The three served as the crew for the first manned Apollo mission launched aboard the Saturn V and the first manned Apollo craft to enter lunar orbit.
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Former Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders passed away at the age of 90 on October 5, 2021. Anders was a key figure in NASA’s historic Apollo program, which aimed to land humans on the moon and return them safely to Earth. His contributions to space exploration and his role in the groundbreaking Apollo 8 mission have left a lasting impact on the world of science and technology.
Anders was born on October 17, 1933, in Hong Kong to American parents. He grew up in Annapolis, Maryland, and went on to attend the United States Naval Academy, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1955. After serving as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force, Anders joined NASA in 1963 as part of the third group of astronauts selected by the agency.
Anders made history on December 21, 1968, when he and his fellow Apollo 8 crew members, Frank Borman and James Lovell, became the first humans to leave Earth’s orbit and travel to the moon. The mission was a crucial step in NASA’s goal of landing astronauts on the lunar surface, and it paved the way for the successful Apollo 11 mission, which achieved that goal less than a year later.
During the Apollo 8 mission, Anders and his crewmates orbited the moon ten times, capturing iconic photographs of the lunar surface and Earthrise. The images taken by Anders during the mission have become some of the most famous and widely recognized photographs in history, showcasing the beauty and fragility of our planet from a perspective never seen before.
After his time with NASA, Anders went on to have a successful career in the aerospace industry, serving as Executive Vice President of General Dynamics Corporation and Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He was also a member of the National Academy of Engineering and received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to science and technology.
William Anders will be remembered not only for his pioneering work in space exploration but also for his dedication to advancing human knowledge and understanding of the universe. His legacy will continue to inspire future generations of astronauts and scientists to reach for the stars and push the boundaries of what is possible in space exploration.
