Archive for June 9th, 2024

Obit watch: June 9, 2024.

Sunday, June 9th, 2024

Major General William A. Anders (USAF – ret.), Apollo 8 astronaut.

In 1968, General Anders, who was a major at the time — along with Col. Frank Borman, who like him was in the Air Force, and Capt. James A. Lovell Jr. of the Navy — was part of the first group of spacemen to leave the bounds of Earth’s orbit. During their mission, they took photos and motion pictures of the lunar surface in preparation for the Apollo 11 flight, when men first stepped on the moon, and they were the first astronauts sent aloft by a giant Saturn V rocket.

On Christmas Eve, during their 10 orbits of the moon, the three astronauts, whose movements were telecast to millions around the world, took photos of Earth as it rose over the lunar horizon, appearing as a blue marble amid the blackness of the heavens. But only Major Anders, who oversaw their spacecraft’s electronic and communications systems, shot color film.
His photo shook the world. Known as “Earthrise,” it was reproduced in a 1969 postage stamp bearing the words “In the beginning God …” It was an inspiration for the first Earth Day, in 1970, and appeared on the cover of Life magazine’s 2003 book “100 Photographs That Changed the World.”

Betty Anne Rees, actress. Other credits include “Lou Grant”, “The F.B.I.”, “Bearcats!”…

…and “Mannix”. (“With Intent to Kill”, season 4, epsiode 17. She was “Cora Hayden”.)