William Anders, an astronaut who was one of the first three people to orbit the moon, and who took the famous “Earthrise” photo, died Friday after a small plane he was in crashed in the water north of Seattle, according to NASA, local officials and his family. He was 90.
The Coast Guard for the Pacific Northwest said just before 1 p.m. local time that it and the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office were responding to a plane crash between Orcas and Jones islands, which are around 80 miles north of Seattle.
The sheriff’s office said its dive team was on the scene, and a second boat was also responding.
Anders’ son, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Greg Anders, confirmed the death to The Associated Press.
“The family is devastated,” Greg Anders said, according to the news agency. “He was a great pilot and we will miss him terribly.”
NASA Administrator Sen. Bill Nelson offered his condolences.
“In 1968, during Apollo 8, Bill Anders offered to humanity among the deepest of gifts an astronaut can give. He traveled to the threshold of the Moon and helped all of us see something else: ourselves. He embodied the lessons and the purpose of exploration. We will miss him,” Nelson wrote on X.
A woman who answered a phone number listed for Nelson who did not give her name said the astronaut was believed to have been on the plane, and declined to make a further comment.
The Apollo 8 mission was launched 55 years ago on Dec. 21, 1968, to circle the moon and return to earth in preparation for the Apollo 11 lunar landing the following year.
Anders was the lunar module pilot on the Apollo 8 mission. Also on the mission were Frank Borman, who was the commander, and James Lovell Jr.
Anders took the famous “Earthrise” photo that showed our world with the lunar horizon in the foreground.
The first report of the plane crash came into the San Juan Sheriff’s Office dispatch center at around 11:40 a.m. Friday, Sheriff Eric Peter said, and authorities responded.
The report was that an older model plane was flying north to south and went into the water and sunk. It was not known if anyone but the pilot was on board, the sheriff said in a statement after the incident.
Anders was born in Hong Kong on Oct. 17, 1933. He had four sons and two daughters.
He was also the backup pilot for the Gemini XI mission and Apollo 11 mission in which the first humans actually landed on the moon on July 24, 1969.
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, who is a former astronaut, wrote on X that Anders was an inspiration.
“Bill Anders forever changed our perspective of our planet and ourselves with his famous Earthrise photo on Apollo 8. He inspired me and generations of astronauts and explorers. My thoughts are with his family and friends,” Kelly wrote.
