Former astronaut William Anders dies in plane crash

Seattle (AP) –

Retired Maj. Gen. William Anders, the previous Apollo 8 astronaut who took the long-lasting “Earthrise” photograph exhibiting the planet as a shadowed blue marble from area in 1968, was killed Friday when the aircraft he was piloting alone plummeted into the waters off the San Juan Islands in Washington state. He was 90. His son, Greg Anders, confirmed the loss of life to The Related Press.

“The household is devastated,” Greg Anders stated. “He was an amazing pilot and we’ll miss him terribly.”

Anders stated the photograph was his most important contribution to the area program, given the ecological philosophical impression it had, together with ensuring the Apollo 8 command module and repair module labored.

A report got here in round 11:40 a.m. that an older-model aircraft crashed into the water and sank close to the north finish of Jones Island, San Juan County Sheriff Eric Peter stated.

Solely the pilot was on board the Beech A45 airplane on the time, in response to the Federal Aviation Affiliation.

William Anders stated in an 1997 NASA oral historical past interview that he didn’t suppose the Apollo 8 mission was risk-free however there have been vital nationwide, patriotic and exploration causes for going forward. He estimated there was about one in three likelihood that the crew wouldn’t make it again and the identical likelihood the mission can be a hit and the identical likelihood that the mission wouldn’t begin to start with. He stated he suspected Christopher Columbus sailed with worse odds.

He recounted how earth regarded fragile and seemingly bodily insignificant, but was residence.

“We’d been going backwards and the other way up, didn’t actually see the Earth or the Solar, and after we rolled round and got here round and noticed the primary Earthrise,” he stated. “That definitely was, by far, probably the most spectacular factor. To see this very delicate, colourful orb which to me regarded like a Christmas tree decoration arising over this very stark, ugly lunar panorama actually contrasted.”

The Nationwide Transportation Security Board and FAA are investigating the crash.

Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders talks about astronaut Neil Armstrong following non-public companies for Armstrong, Aug. 31, 2012, in Cincinnati. Retired Maj. Gen. Anders, the previous Apollo 8 astronaut who took the long-lasting ‘Earthrise’ photograph exhibiting the planet as a shadowed blue marble from area in 1968, was killed Friday, June 7, 2024, when the aircraft he was piloting alone plummeted into the waters off the San Juan Islands in Washington state. He was 90. (AP Picture/Al Behrman, File)