Astronaut that featured in ‘Earthrise’ photo dies in a plane crash at the age of 90.

Astronaut Bill Anders, who took the iconic "Earthrise" photo during Apollo 8's Moon mission in 1968, died at 90 after his plane crashed near Seattle. The image inspired the environmental movement and exemplified space exploration's perspective on Earth.

Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders, who captured one of the most famous images in space history, passed away at the age of 90 after a small plane he was flying disappeared in Washington state in Puget Sound. 

Anders’ son Greg said that his father is dead, ‘The family is distraught, he was a good pilot 

Anders made history as the Lunar Module Pilot for the Apollo 8 mission in 1968 and took the now famous photo of the ‘Earthrise’ where the Earth rises over the Lunar horizon. This picture is believed to have contributed to the beginning of the environmentalist movement.

And this, when Anders spoke about the photograph, “We trtraveledens of millions of miles to explore the Moon, and the most that can be said is that we have found the Earth. ”

The crash occurred around 11:7:40 a.m. local time on Friday when Anders flying Beechcraft A crashed at approximately 80 feet from Jones Island. Witness Philip Person testified having seen the plane try to do a loop and then become fully upside down before it exploded upon impact with water.

After his last space mission in 1969, Anders worked in the aerospace business and acted as an American ambassador to Norway. However, he is also remembered for being one of the first individuals to orbit the Moon on Apollo 8.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson paid tribute, saying "In 1968, Bill Anders offered humanity a gift. . . He traveled to the Moon and helped all of us see something else: Our actions and decisions impact ourselves. ”

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The photo “Earthrise” captured the essence of how humanity saw the Earth and inspired further activism for environmental issues. Though Anders is gone, his contributions to advancing humanity’s interest in space will never be forgotten.