Astronaut William Anders, who captured 'Earthrise' photo from Moon, dies in plane crash

William Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who captured "Earthrise", one of the most significant photos of humankind that showed ourblue planet from Moonin 1968, was killed in a plane crash.He was 90.

The crash took place on Friday (June 7)when the plane he was piloting alone went down into the waters off the San Juan Islands in Washington state.

His son, Greg Anders, confirmed the death to the media.

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"The family is devastated," retired Air Force Lt. Col. Greg Anders said. "He was a great pilot and we will miss him terribly."

The photo captured by the deceased astronaut was his most significant contribution to the space program. William Anders also sure the Apollo 8 command module and service module worked well.

Earthrise photograph, which showed Earth and a part of the Moon's surface, was taken from lunar orbit by Anders on December 24, 1968, during the Apollo 8 mission. Nature photographer Galen Rowell once described it as "the most influential environmental photograph ever taken".

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NASA Administrator and former Senator Bill Nelson said Anders embodied the lessons and the purpose of exploration.

"He traveled to the threshold of the Moon and helped all of us see something else: ourselves," Nelson wrote on the social platform X.

In December 1968, William Anders became one of the first three members of the crew of Apollo 8 to leave low Earth orbit and travel to the Moon. Along with fellow astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell, Anders circled the Moon ten times, and broadcast live images and commentary back to Earth. This also included the famous Christmas Eve Genesis reading. During one of the mission's lunar orbits, he took the iconic Earthrise photograph that consolidated his placein the annals of human history.