William Anders, who has died aged 90, was an American astronaut who flew on what was considered NASA’s most daring space mission; As a member of the Apollo 8 crew, he became one of the first three men to travel to the Moon; Here they lingered in orbit for a day, capturing mankind’s first close-up view of the weathered lunar surface.
Anders was the photographer on the flight and took the historic photo of the blue and white Earth rising above the barren gray surface of the Moon; this was an iconic photo credited with starting the environmental movement.
Although their circumnavigation of the Moon was overshadowed by the first Moon landing seven months later (Apollo 11), Apollo 8 arguably had a more challenging journey, and it was certainly an important start. This was only the second Apollo flight, and was originally planned to test NASA’s brand-new lunar landing module in the relative safety of near-Earth orbit. However, due to technical problems, the lander was not yet fit to fly.
Adding to Nasa’s outrage, the Soviet Union had sent the Zond 5 crew capsule safely to the Moon and back, albeit carrying only animals (including two turtles). It was clearly visible that a Russian manned flight around the Moon was imminent.
Wanting to avoid being defeated by another space record set by their Cold War enemies, the Americans made the bold decision to send Anders and his crew to the Moon without the originally planned lunar module. This would offer the safety net of a backup engine and life support in case something went wrong; This facility would later save the lives of the Apollo 13 crew who would go to the moon.
On December 21, 1968, Anders lay with two highly experienced astronaut colleagues, commander Frank Borman and command module pilot James Lovell, in the cramped Apollo 8 capsule atop steaming black-and-white Saturn V rockets at Cape Kennedy. Rookie Anders was so relieved at the impending launch of what would be only the third flight of America’s giant Saturn V and its first with a crew, that he fell asleep during the countdown.
The largest rocket ever built left Florida with a shattering roar that shook spectators, including astronaut families, who watched from three miles away. After a brief check while in Earth orbit, the engine was restarted, accelerating them towards the Moon to an unprecedented speed of 24,200 mph. The human altitude record, then 850 miles, was quickly broken as they began their 235,000-mile outward journey.
The team, with Anders as cameraman, astonished earthly audiences by broadcasting the first black-and-white television images showing the Earth as a ball suspended in black space. Their home planet quickly dimmed in the cabin window, and after a three-day cruise, the crew fired their engines to successfully enter lunar orbit. They were the first humans to be captured by the gravity of a planetary body other than Earth.
Anders had trained to fly the lunar module, but since there was no vehicle ready, he was assigned duty photographer duty. On the Moon’s fourth return, Anders noticed a remarkable sight they had missed three times before; The colorful Earth rose above the moon’s wasteland. Moving between the windows as the vehicle slowly turned, he captured several images that would be reproduced indefinitely in broadcasts around the world.
He would later reflect: “We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing we discovered was the Earth.”
The crew had quietly planned to celebrate their historic achievement with a solemn speech from lunar orbit, but now, as they stared out at the bleak cratered mountains, words fell short. Instead, they decided to take turns reading from the Book of Genesis. As the sun set on Apollo 8’s ninth orbit, Anders read: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the Earth was formless and void, and there was darkness upon the face of the deep…”
These words, broadcast a quarter of a million miles from Earth from the three furthest humans in history as they plunged into the dark shadow of the Moon on Christmas Eve, resonated tremendously with Earthbound viewers.
But the gesture also sparked outrage and a lawsuit from militant atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair, who argued that church and state were separated and that NASA’s budget should not support the Bible. The U.S. Supreme Court later rejected it, citing lack of jurisdiction over the location of the offending reading.
Their dangerous mission ended with a dramatic re-entry into the atmosphere and a pre-dawn splashdown into the Pacific Ocean north of New Zealand. This effectively marked the end of the Moon race with the USSR.
William (“Bill”) Alison Anders was born in Hong Kong on 17 October 1933; Here his father, Arthur, a US Navy Lieutenant, was stationed with his wife, Muriel (née Adams).
When Bill was four years old, Arthur Anders became the hero of the infamous “USS Panay Incident,” when Japanese planes provocatively targeted a Navy gunboat on the Yangtze River in China. Suffering shrapnel wounds to his throat, he was forced to give written orders as his ship sank, earning him the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart.
The family returned to California, where young Bill was educated in El Cajon and San Diego, followed by the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. After graduation, he transferred to the U.S. Air Force, earning his wings in 1956 and flying interceptors from California and Iceland (the latter to counter Soviet bombers that challenged U.S. air defenses).
Anders joined NASA in 1963 as part of its third astronaut recruitment. Apollo 8 was his only spaceflight, and he left the institution in 1969 after serving as support for Michael Collins on the Apollo 11 Moon landing. He later advised the U.S. President on space policy, directing the National Aeronautics and Space Council.
He chaired national nuclear institutions and was appointed ambassador to Norway, then went on to have a successful and lucrative business career in engineering and aerospace.
In 1970, in the case of Anders and his colleagues, as well as the Apollo 11 crew who were the first to set foot on the Moon, the ban on naming lunar features after living individuals was briefly lifted. Moon’s name is now Anders.
An avid pilot, he was flying a small plane alone yesterday when the plane crashed into waters near the San Juan Islands in Washington state.
Anders married Valerie Hoard in 1955 and they had four sons and two daughters. He later settled in Washington state.
William Anders was born on October 17, 1933, died on June 7, 2024.