William Anders is the individual in question. - Photographer Who Captured Earth's Rise from Moon Among the Departed.
Twice, the spaceship orbited around the moon, and then Commander Frank Borman changed its direction slightly. Upon doing so, he exclaimed, "Oh man, look at this!" To which his fellow astronauts, William Anders, responded with extreme enthusiasm. Anders promptly stole a Swedish Hasselblad camera and used the longest German Zeiss lens available. He quickly loaded a color film and started taking pictures.
Anders later recalled, "I was just pressed, tap-tap-tapping away." He ended up capturing one of the most well-known, iconic images of the planet: "Earthrise."
Unfortunately, Anders is no more. A plane he was piloting crashed into the waters off the northwestern coast of Seattle. According to American news outlets, his son reported the incident, suggesting that Anders was alone in the plane. Authorities are currently investigating the incident.
"Earthrise" is widely considered to be a turning point and catalyst for the environmental movement. The photograph, later labeled AS08-14-2383 by the NASA, revolutionized humanity's perspective on Earth. It symbolized the planet's fragility and isolation, instilling a sense of environmental awareness. Despite being taken before the advent of digital cameras or social media, "Earthrise" has remained an influential and inspiring photograph.
NASA's current chief, Bill Nelson, expressed his condolences on the X platform. "Commander Bill Anders gave humanity one of the most precious gifts an astronaut could offer - he journeyed to the moon's threshold and opened our eyes to see ourselves. His legacy embodies the essence and purpose of exploration. We'll miss him."
The captivating and famous photograph, "Earthrise," was taken on the evening of December 24, 1968. These three astronauts - Borman, Anders, and Jim Lovell - spent their Christmas holiday there, alongside hot chocolate, cookies, gingerbread, turkey, soup, and orange juice.
Anders later recounted, "The image wasn't particularly remarkable." However, the sight of the tiny, blue Earth ball, found nestled in the shadow of the silver moon, profoundly altered Anders' worldview. He pondered, "Here we are, on an inconsequential planet, culminating around an ordinary star within a nondescript galaxy, amongst countless millions of galaxies in the universe — are we truly significant?"
To further emphasize the repercussions of his finding, Anders outlined three possible outcomes: the mission could have been a success, the astronauts could have survived but not completed the mission, or they might never have returned at all. The best known memento of the mission was unplanned. The Earth photographs, including the famous one, "Earthrise," were intended to showcase the Moon; instead, they showcased the Earth itself. These recordings were eventually used in Moon landings.
Anders mused, "It always prompts me to laugh — 'ironic,' I call it — we'd traveled there to discover the Moon. But what we discovered was the Earth."
