Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders died in a plane crash

Astronaut William Anders, who was part of the Apollo 8 crew and took one of the most famous photographs in space, died in a plane crash. He was 90 years old. CNN reports this with reference to Anders' son.

Officials say the small plane crashed off the San Juan Islands in Washington state. The US Coast Guard announced that the pilot's body was found by a team of divers after an hours-long search. It was reported that only the pilot appeared to be on the plane.

"The family is devastated and mourning the loss of a great pilot," Greg Anders said.

In 1968, Anders was the lunar module pilot for the Apollo 8 mission, the first crewed spacecraft to reach the Moon. During his flyby of the Moon, Anders captured the iconic "Earthrise" image, one of the most famous images of the Earth from space.

“We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing we discovered was the Earth,” Anders said at the time.

Arizona Senator and former astronaut Mark Kelly wrote on social media X: "Bill Anders forever changed the way we view our planet and ourselves with his famous Apollo 8 Earthrise photograph. He inspired me and generations of astronauts and explorers. My thoughts are with his family and friends."