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June 8, 2024 12:13 PM

Maj. William A. Anders, who flew on the first manned space mission to orbit the moon, the Apollo 8 “Genesis Flight” of Christmas Eve 1968, and took the color photograph “Earthrise” credited with inspiring the modern environmental movement, died on Friday morning when a small plane he was piloting alone dove into the water near Roche Harbor, Wa., northwest of Seattle. He was 90. [NY Times; ungated]

Nasa 'Earthrise' astronaut dies at 90 in plane crash [BBC]
NASA Remembers Apollo 8 Astronaut Bill Anders

[via] JoeZydeco's LinkMe

posted by chavenet (28 comments total)

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posted by adekllny at 12:24 PM on June 8

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posted by tommasz at 12:27 PM on June 8

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posted by clavdivs at 12:41 PM on June 8 [4 favorites]

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I never get tired of looking at Earthrise. It’s a transcendent piece of art.
posted by Kattullus at 12:42 PM on June 8 [2 favorites]

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posted by gc at 12:44 PM on June 8 [1 favorite]

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posted by lalochezia at 12:45 PM on June 8

Warpspeed, Major.
posted by briank at 12:45 PM on June 8 [1 favorite]

Died like a pilot, with his hands on the stick. Well, hopefully.

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posted by credulous at 1:06 PM on June 8 [4 favorites]

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posted by Melismata at 1:08 PM on June 8

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posted by gentlyepigrams at 1:23 PM on June 8

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[may I suggest adding the 'linkme' tag, in case this catches on?]
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 1:35 PM on June 8 [1 favorite]

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posted by Ickster at 1:38 PM on June 8

[may I suggest adding the 'linkme' tag, in case this catches on?]

Done
posted by chavenet at 1:49 PM on June 8 [1 favorite]

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posted by Wordshore at 1:58 PM on June 8

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posted by bryon at 2:44 PM on June 8

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posted by evilDoug at 3:01 PM on June 8

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posted by humbug at 4:18 PM on June 8

"Earthrise" also inspired the closing verse of what is, to me, the greatest song written in the English language:

In a highway service station
Over the month of June
Was a photograph of the Earth
Taken coming back from the moon
And you couldn't see a city
On that marbled bowling ball
Or a forest or a highway
Or me here, least of all
You couldn't see these cold water restrooms
Or this baggage overload
Westbound and rolling, taking refuge in the roads

(I see this is noted in the Wikipedia entry, but any excuse to share/talk about this song is gladly taken.)
posted by mykescipark at 4:42 PM on June 8 [3 favorites]

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posted by JoeXIII007 at 11:02 PM on June 8

If you missed it, there was a short film posted about a year ago about this photo, very much worth a watch.

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posted by Acey at 9:03 AM on June 9 [2 favorites]

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posted by kitten kaboodle at 10:40 AM on June 9

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posted by maniabug at 2:48 PM on June 9

I remember the sort of shock wave inspired by that picture, and the following contemplation of how we are living on this fragile speck of a planet surrounded by vastness... it was an incredible corrective to the idea that the earth is huge and goes on and on, the fantasy of the ever expanding frontier that still, somehow, existed in the public (dominant white mainstream) culture.
posted by jokeefe at 3:19 PM on June 9 [4 favorites]

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posted by jokeefe at 3:19 PM on June 9

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This really hits home for me in a personal way.
posted by sizeable beetle at 7:00 PM on June 9 [1 favorite]

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posted by 43rdAnd9th at 9:18 AM on June 10

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posted by snsranch at 12:43 PM on June 10

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How amazing to see the earth and stars and sun from space.
posted by theora55 at 2:19 PM on June 11 [1 favorite]