Passing of Bill Anders, Class of 1951
On June 7, 2024, while flying his plane off the coast of Washington, Bill’s plane crashed, and he died.
Now, we celebrate his life. Bill was on the historic Apollo 8 flight that first circled the moon. When we opened the first Museum in 2008, Bill mailed us a copy of the iconic photo “Earthrise” that he took while circling the moon. He signed the photo in honor of our opening. “Earthrise” became a symbol of the environmental movement and led to the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970.
Five years later, in 2013 Bill visited the museum. In the attached photo, Bill is standing in front of our 3 astronauts’ memorabilia. His Apollo 8 memorabilia is to the right of him: in 1969 at a school assembly, Bill donated to Grossmont High School a California flag and the Apollo 8 patch he carried on board the flight with the signatures of all three of the crew members: Frank Borman, James Lovell, and Bill Anders and a note “To Grossmont High School.”
On the 50th anniversary of the flight of Apollo 8, Bill gave us another autographed photo, this time of two craters on the moon, one named to honor “Earthrise” and one to honor Apollo 8’s flight home.
“In October 2018, to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 8 mission, the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature approved the naming of two craters on the Moon to honor this historic moment: previously designated by numbers, the craters are now named “Anders Earthrise” and “8 Homeward.”
In 2018, Bill shared with us this reflection on his historic experiences in space: “The message of my iconic “Earthrise” picture is sinking in more and more. In short, it's ironic that Apollo 8 came to explore the moon, but what we really discovered was the earth---small, beautiful, fragile, physically and astronomically insignificant yet humankind's home that we need to take better care of.”
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https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-07/bill-anders-astronaut-plane-crash