When the small plane he was piloting crashed on Friday off the shore of Jones Island, close to Washington state, William Anders, 90, was the only person inside.
Greg Anders, his son, confirmed the passing and said that the family is “devastated”.
“He was a great pilot and we will miss him terribly,” he stated.
In December 1968, Mr. Anders made history by being the first human spaceflight to orbit the moon in Apollo 8.
Mr. Anders took what turned out to be one of the most famous pictures ever taken during the flight: a picture of Earth rising over the lunar horizon.
In a 1997 NASA oral history interview, he stated that he believed the crew had an equal probability of success and a one in three risk of not making it back.
He went on to say that Christopher Columbus might have sailed with worse odds.
However, he stated that he believed there were compelling reasons to go with the expedition for exploration, national, and patriotic grounds.
“We’d been going backwards and upside down; we didn’t really see the Earth or the Sun, and when we rolled around and came around, we saw the first Earthrise,” he continued.
That was undoubtedly the most astounding aspect.
“It was incredibly striking to watch this fragile, colorful orb—which reminded me of a Christmas tree ornament—come out over this austere, unattractive lunar environment.
