Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders has been killed in a tragic plane crash. Anders captured one of the most iconic photographs in history when he flew around the moon on Apollo 8.
Anders had always said they went to explore the moon, and instead found the Earth. His famous photo of the Earth rising over the lunar surface put things in perspective in a way the world had never seen before.
Anders crashed near Seattle in a small plane
The 90-year old former USAF combat fighter pilot was the only soul onboard the Beech A45 he was flying Friday near Seattle, WA.
Witnesses on the ground reported him going down about 80 miles north of the city, sinking between some islands. Videos have been circulating online from eyewitnesses. In the footages, the plane looped inverted. Anders appeared to try and pull up, before hitting the water.
According to the NTSB, Anders hit the water about 80 feet offshore of Jones Island. Once recovered, they will send the plane off for investigators to examine. NTSB will release a preliminary report within 30 days. The final report will be available in 1-2 years.
“The family is devastated,” said Anders’ son, Greg Anders. “He was a great pilot and we will miss him terribly.”
Anders was a Major General, before becoming an astronaut
Anders came from a military family. After graduating high school in Southern California, he attended the US Naval Academy, graduating in 1955. He commissioned into the USAF and earned his wings in 1956.
Shortly after he began flying the F-89 “Scorpion”. He spent a year in Iceland with several intercepts of Russian Bear Bombers. He later transitioned to the F-101 “Voodoo”.
On to space
Anders was selected by NASA in 1963, and soon found himself assigned to the backup crew for Gemini 11. Later he would also be assigned to the backup for Apollo 11.
He was one of the first to pilot the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle, which earning him a spot as the Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 8 with Jim Lovell and Frank Borman.
Their launch was a significant one, possibly as much or more than Apollo 11. It marked many firsts as they thundered off the Earth December 21, 1968.
It was the first crewed flight of the mighty Saturn V rocket. the first time that humans left Earth’s gravity, and Apollo 8 became the first humans to travel to the moon.
Earthrise
The famous photo of the Earth rising kind of happened by accident. They were shooting mostly black and white images of locations for future missions to possibly land. The only reason they saw the Earth when they did was because Borman was rotating the spacecraft, pointing nose-down at the moon.
It was pure coincidence that, as they came around, Anders could see the Earth in his window. There had already been 3 Earth rises. They just couldn’t see it until now.
”When the Earth came up, I didn’t even have a light meter,” recalled Anders in the years after. “I just started clicking away and changing the F-stops and, fortunately, one of the pictures came out.
In recorded audio the crew’s surprise and rush to capture it was evident. “Oh, my God, look at that picture over there,” said Anders. “There’s the Earth coming up. Wow, is that pretty!”
Anders (to Lovell): “You got a color film, Jim? Hand me a roll of color, quick, would you?”
Lovell: “Oh, man, that’s great! Where is it?”
Anders: “Hurry. Quick.”
Lovell: “Down here?”
Anders: “Just grab me a color. A color exterior. Hurry up. Got one?”
Lovell: “Yeah, I’m lookin’ for one. C368.”
Anders: “Anything quick.”
Lovell handed him the film just as Anders is heard saying, “I think we missed it.”
Lovell saw the shot again in another window. He asks for the camera from Anders, who got a bit defensive (and I as a photographer don’t blame him).
Anders: “Wait a minute, just let me get the right setting here now, just calm down. Calm down, Lovell!”
The rest, as they say, is history.
Borman, Lovell and Anders were named Time Magazine’s Men of the Year for 1968. Anders’ famous “Earthrise” was chosen by Life Magazine as one of the “100 Photographs that Changed the World”.
Lot of questions about what happened to cause Anders to crash
Right now there’s no information at all as to what could have possibly happened Friday that caused the fatal plane crash.
As noted earlier, the NTSB recovery of the plane and investigation are underway.
