Apollo 8 astronaut who took Earthrise photo dead at 90 after plane crash

Former NASA astronaut William Anders, who took the famous Earthrise photograph in 1968, while on the Apollo 8 mission, died Friday at the age of 90 when he crashed a plane he was solely piloting in Washington state.

Anders has touted his iconic photograph of the Earth from the lunar orbit as his most notable contribution to NASA, because it had a great historical, ecological, and philosophical significance, according to the Associated Press.

The astronaut's death was confirmed by his son Greg Anders, and it came after he crashed his plane into the waters off of San Juan Islands at approximately 11:40 a.m. He was the only person on the plane at the time of the crash, but further details on the cause of the crash have not been released.

“The family is devastated,” Greg Anders told the AP. “He was a great pilot and we will miss him terribly.”

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash, which featured a Beech A45 plane.

William Anders commented on the beauty of the Earth in an oral history report for NASA in 1997. He recalled how the Earth appeared small and insignificant in space, but still felt like home.

“We’d been going backwards and upside down, didn’t really see the Earth or the Sun, and when we rolled around and came around and saw the first Earthrise,” William Anders said. “That certainly was, by far, the most impressive thing. To see this very delicate, colorful orb which to me looked like a Christmas tree ornament coming up over this very stark, ugly lunar landscape really contrasted.”

Anders worked in the government for 26 years, including as the executive secretary for the National Aeronautics and Space Council, and on the five person Atomic Energy Commission. He was also a U.S. Air Force veteran, according to the New York Post.