Legendary Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders died in a plane crash northwest of Seattle on Friday.

He was 90 years old.

Astronaut William A. Anders in 1966. Bettmann Archive file

Bill Anders took the iconic “Earthrise” photo during his 1968 orbit around the moon.

Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders, who is missing after his plane crashed near Seattle, took this famous photo, "Earthrise", in 1968 pic.twitter.com/jelEIE4wyO

— BNO News (@BNONews) June 7, 2024

A bystander got footage of Anders’ plane nose-diving between Orcas and Jones Islands.

According to reports, Anders was the only pilot on the plane at the time of the crash.

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BREAKING: Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders' plane crashes northwest of Seattle. Search and rescue underway pic.twitter.com/f0tCZ6rMLh

— BNO News (@BNONews) June 7, 2024

NBC News reported:

William Anders, an astronaut who was one of the first three people to orbit the moon, and who took the famous “Earthrise” photo, died Friday after a small plane he was in crashed in the water north of Seattle, according to NASA, local officials and his family. He was 90.

The Coast Guard for the Pacific Northwest said just before 1 p.m. local time that it and the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office were responding to a plane crash between Orcas and Jones islands, which are around 80 miles north of Seattle.

The sheriff’s office said only the pilot was believed to have been in the two-seat plane. A body was recovered and the pilot’s identification retrieved, it said.

In 2018, Bill Anders shared his story behind the iconic “Earthrise” photo he took during his lunar orbit.

Anders said he had a 1 in 3 chance of surviving the 1968 lunar orbit.

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