Apollo 8 astronaut killed in plane crash near Orcas Island – KIRO 7 News Seattle

According to video of the incident, Anders may have been attempting a loop in a Beechcraft T-34 when the plane hit the water.

Anders, a former major general in the United States Air Force, is best known for being one of the first three people to travel to the Moon, circling ten times and returning to Earth.

Anders also took one of the most famous photographs in the history of the planet, known as Earthrise.

Born October 17, 1933 in Hong Kong, Anders was the pilot of Apollo 8. Along with astronauts Frank Borman and Lovell, Anders received a call in mid-August 1968 telling them to cancel their vacation plans, as they were traveling in the country. Moon.

On December 21, 1968, a Saturn V rocket was launched from Cape Kennedy with the three astronauts on board.

For the first time, humans were aboard a 36-story rocket, filled with a million gallons of fuel, and launched into space. The 7.6 million pounds of thrust would take them through the atmosphere and they would become the first humans to be taken beyond Earth's orbit.

On Sunday, December 22, about halfway to the Moon, Frank Borman told Mission Control: “It's a very beautiful sight. »

69 hours after launch, the crew had reached the far side of the Moon. They burned their engines to slow their ship so it could be captured by the Moon's gravitational pull.

For the first time in human history, human beings were able to see the other side of the Moon.

On Christmas Eve, they filmed the surface of the Moon from Apollo 8 and broadcast the images on televisions around the world.

“The immensity of the Moon here is impressive. It makes you realize exactly what you have down there on Earth. The Earth seen from here is a great oasis in the darkness of space. » said Lovell.

As Earth rose above the lunar horizon, Anders took his photo, known as Earthrise.

On Christmas morning, after nine and a half lunar orbits, the crew fired their engines to propel them out of orbit and begin their return flight.

They ran aground Dec. 27 in the Pacific Ocean, where the Navy took them aboard the USS Yorktown.

Shortly after they returned to land, President Lyndon Johnson called to congratulate them on their efforts.

“You have seen what man has never seen before. You have taken us, all of us, everywhere, into a new era,” Johnson said.