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Bill Anders

American astronaut and lunar explorer (1933–2024)

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Bill Anders was an American astronaut who flew on Apollo 8 in 1968, the first crewed mission to orbit the Moon. He is remembered for taking the iconic photograph "Earthrise," showing Earth rising above the lunar horizon, which became one of the most influential images in history by changing how people viewed their planet.

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Person · Open Library

Born: 1933-10-17
Died: 2024-06-07
Works: 1

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Music · MusicBrainz

Type: Person
Country: AT
Active from: 1945-01-15

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Article

William Alison Anders (17 October 1933 – 7 June 2024) was a United States Air Force (USAF) major general, electrical engineer, nuclear engineer, NASA astronaut, and businessman. In December 1968, he was a member of the crew of Apollo 8, the first three people to leave low Earth orbit and travel to the Moon. Along with fellow astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell, he circled the Moon ten times, and broadcast live images and commentary back to Earth, including the Christmas Eve Genesis reading. During one of the mission's lunar orbits, he took the iconic Earthrise photograph.

A 1955 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Anders was commissioned a second lieutenant in the USAF the same year and became a fighter pilot flying Northrop F-89 Scorpions equipped with AIR-2A nuclear-tipped air-to-air rockets. In 1962, he earned a Master of Science degree in nuclear engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) of Air University, and was sent to the Air Force Weapons Laboratory to manage the technical aspects of the service's nuclear reactor programs.