Getty ImagesApollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders, who took one of the most famous photos of outer space, has died aged 90.
Officials said he was piloting a small plane that crashed into waters north of Seattle, Washington.
Anders’ son Greg confirmed that his father was piloting the small plane and his body was found on Friday afternoon.
“His family is devastated. He was a great pilot. He will be missed,” the family wrote in a statement.
Anders was the lunar module pilot on the Apollo 8 mission who took this iconic “Earthrise” photo, one of the most memorable and inspiring images of Earth taken from space.
Taken on Christmas Eve in 1968 during the first manned space mission, which left Earth for the Moon, this photo shows Earth rising above the horizon from the barren lunar surface.
Anders later described it as his most important contribution to the space program.
NASAThe image is widely credited with catalyzing the global environmental movement and leading to the creation of Earth Day, an annual event that promotes activism and awareness of caring for the planet.
Talking about this moment, Anders said: “We traveled thousands of miles to the moon, and the most important thing we discovered was the earth.”
Officials said on Friday that Anders’ plane crashed at around 11:40 PDT (1940 BST).
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the 90-year-old man was driving a Beechcraft AA 45, also known as a T-34. The agency said the plane crashed about 80 feet (25m) off the coast of Jones Island.
Witness Philip Person told king tv In Seattle, he witnessed the crash.
He told the network that the plane began to loop and invert.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Person told a local news station. “It looked like something out of a movie or special effects. With huge explosions and fire and everything.”
Footage purportedly capturing the crash appears to show a last-second attempt to pull up the plane before it surfaces and becomes a fiery wreckage.
BBC News has not confirmed the film.
Anders also served as a backup pilot for the Apollo 11 mission, which led to the first moon landing on July 24, 1969.
After Anders retired from the space program in 1969, the former astronaut worked primarily in the aerospace industry for decades. He also served as U.S. ambassador to Norway for a year in the 1970s.
But he is best remembered for the Apollo 8 mission and the iconic photos he took from space.
“In 1968, during the Apollo 8 moon landing, Bill Anders gave humanity one of the profoundest gifts a spaceman can give. He reached the moon’s portal and helped us all see the rest of the world. Something: ourselves,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. statement.
Former astronaut and current Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Anders “inspired me and generations of astronauts and explorers. My thoughts are with his family and friends together” .
