Photography Professional Behind "Earthrise" Image, Astronaut Anders, Passes Away in Air Disaster
Authorities verified that an outdated aircraft had crashed close to one of the San Juan Islands in the state of Washington. An inquiry is underway.
In stark contrast, a part of the Apollo 8 mission - the initial space mission with a crew seeing the back side of the moon and capturing photos of it - was unique. During the journey, Anders snapped the "Earthrise" picture in 1968, which displays the Earth as a crescent across the lunar terrain.
The Apollo 8 mission blasted off in December 1968, with Anders, along with space travelers Frank Borman and James Lovell aboard. Borman passed away last November at the age of 95. Anders, who hailed from Hong Kong, had previously served as a fighter pilot in the US Army before joining the astronaut program.
NASA's head, Bill Nelson, expressed the loss of Anders as, "He took us to the edge of the moon and gifted us with a perspective: seeing ourselves," on X. "We will miss him dearly," Nelson added.
Anders altered how we viewed our planet and ourselves through his renowned photograph, stated former astronaut and US Senator Mark Kelly on X. "He motivated me and generations of astronauts," Kelly concluded.
Following his tenure at NASA, Anders functioned as the chair of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and was a diplomat to Norway. In the early 1990s, he presided over the US weapon manufacturer General Dynamics prior to retiring.
