The desire to fly never left him either 90 years old but it was fatal to his life: Willem Andersretired major general and ex astronaut of‘Apollo 8 dies in a plane crash in the San Juan Islands, off the coast of Washington State, as his family the CNN. From initial information he flew a Beechcraft AA45, also known as the T-34, a turboprop described as a “old model” which fell into the sea due to problems that are still being investigated by the American authorities. In addition to his contribution as an astronaut, Anders will be especially remembered for the unforgettable shot that ended up in all the history books of the “.Rising Earth” seen from space, in English called “Earthrise”.
The photo that made history
As mentioned, his photo was also the first in which the Earth was seen in color with the blue of its oceans and the white of the clouds, a perfect shot in terms of beauty and meaning. Anders only participated in the Apollo 8 mission with the other two astronauts, Frank Borman and James Lovell, with whom he first went around the Moon, and also its “hidden” side, invisible from our planet , saw. “We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing is this we discovered the earth“, Anders said at the time. The photo on later defined “legendary“from NASA recalling the moment it was taken, when the crew was capturing images of the lunar surface to conduct subsequent geological analyses.”Suddenly I looked out the window, and here this beautiful sphere approachedAnders said about the earth.
Apollo 8 was fundamental in paving the way for the moon landing that took place with Apollo 11. William Anders was born in Hong Kong on October 17, 1933: after graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1955, he became a pilot the following year serving as a fighter pilot in the Air Defense Command’s all-weather interceptor squadrons in California and Iceland. As reported in the NASA biography, when Anders worked at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory in New Mexico, he was responsible for managing nuclear reactor shielding and radiation effects programs. The mission Apollo 8 it was launched on December 21, 1968 with the stated purpose of orbiting the moon, paving the way for Apollo 11 the following year: Anders took care of the lunar module
The memory of NASA
A moving and meaningful memory has dawned social also by the NASA administrator, Bill Nelsonremember that Anders personified the goals of the exploration 100%.
“In 1968, during Apollo 8, Bill Anders gave humanity one of the most profound gifts an astronaut can give. He traveled to the edge of the Moon and helped us all see something else: ourselves. He embodied the lessons and purpose of exploration. We’re going to miss him.”