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William Alison Anders (17 October 1933 – 7 June 2024) was a United States Air Force (USAF) major general, electrical engineer, nuclear engineer, NASA astronaut, and businessman. In December 1968, he was a member of the crew of Apollo 8, the first three people to leave low Earth orbit and travel to the Moon. Along with fellow astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell, he circled the Moon ten times, and broadcast live images and commentary back to Earth, including the Christmas Eve Genesis reading. During one of the mission's lunar orbits, he took the iconic Earthrise photograph.

A 1955 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Anders was commissioned a second lieutenant in the USAF the same year and became a fighter pilot flying Northrop F-89 Scorpions equipped with AIR-2A nuclear-tipped air-to-air rockets. In 1962, he earned a Master of Science degree in nuclear engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) of Air University, and was sent to the Air Force Weapons Laboratory to manage the technical aspects of the service's nuclear reactor programs.

Anders was the executive secretary of the National Aeronautics and Space Council from 1969 to 1973, a commissioner of the United States Atomic Energy Commission from 1973 to 1975, and chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from 1975 to 1976. He then became the United States Ambassador to Norway from 1976 to 1977. In September 1977, he joined General Electric (GE) as the vice president and general manager of its Nuclear Products Division and became the general manager of the GE Aircraft Equipment Division in 1980. He left GE to join Textron as executive vice president for aerospace, and two years later became senior executive vice president for operations. During his time in the Civil Service, he remained a USAF reserve officer and retained his active flight status. He retired from the reserve as a major general in 1988. In 1990, he became vice chairman of General Dynamics, and in 1991 its chairman and CEO. He retired as CEO in 1993 and as chairman in 1994.

Anders died in a crash of his Beechcraft T-34 Mentor in June 2024 near the San Juan Islands.

Early life

William Alison Anders was born in British Hong Kong on 17 October 1933, the son of Arthur Ferdinand Anders (1903–2000), a United States Navy lieutenant, and his wife, Muriel A. Anders (; 1911–1990). The family moved from Hong Kong to Annapolis, Maryland, where his father taught mathematics at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. After Annapolis, Anders's father received orders to billet in Nanjing, China. After the family moved there, the Second Sino-Japanese War erupted in 1937, followed by Japan invading China. In December of that year, his father was serving as the executive officer of the river gunboat when he was wounded as the ship was attacked and sunk by Japanese bombers. As the Japanese began to advance toward Nanjing, Anders and his mother fled by taking a train to Guangzhou.

The family returned to the United States, where Anders was active in the Boy Scouts, achieving the organization's second-highest rank, Life Scout. As a teen, Anders attended St Martin's Academy and Grossmont High School in El Cajon, California. To improve his grades so that he could be accepted at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, Anders was sent to the Boyden School, a military academy prep school in downtown San Diego. He commuted to Boyden by bus from La Mesa, California. The school lay under the flight path into Lindbergh Field and aircraft such as the huge Convair B-36 Peacemaker would fly low over the school. He was fascinated with flight and built model aircraft. He graduated from Boyden in 1951.

After graduation, Anders reported for flight training, which was conducted in the piston-engine Beechcraft T-34 Mentor and North American T-28 Trojan and then in the jet Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star. After receiving his pilot wings in 1956 he became a fighter pilot with the 84th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, an all-weather interceptor squadron of the Air Defense Command based at Hamilton Air Force Base in California, flying Northrop F-89 Scorpions equipped with MB-1 nuclear-tipped air-to-air rockets. He then served with the 57th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron in Iceland, where he participated in intercepts of Soviet heavy bombers, which were challenging America's air defense borders. After a year he returned to the 84th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Hamilton, which was now flying the McDonnell F-101 Voodoo.

Anders set his sights on becoming a test pilot. He spoke to Chuck Yeager, who recommended that he first obtain an advanced degree. Anders submitted an application to the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, hoping to study aeronautical engineering, but the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion program was ongoing, and the AFIT had him study nuclear engineering instead. While there he took a course in aeronautical engineering at Ohio State University. He graduated from the AFIT with a Master of Science degree in nuclear engineering in 1962. By that time, the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion program had been canceled, so he was assigned to the Air Force Weapons Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, where he was responsible for the technical management of nuclear reactor programs.

NASA

Selection and training

thumb|Anders (right) with fellow Apollo 8 crewmates [[Jim Lovell (center) and Frank Borman (left)]]

Anders then applied to the USAF Aerospace Research Pilots School (ARPS) for test pilot training,

While at NASA, he became involved in dosimetry, radiation effects, and environmental controls.

Although the LM would not be ready to fly in December 1968, the Apollo command and service module (CSM) would be, so a CSM-only mission could be flown. It could be sent to the Moon, entering lunar orbit before returning to Earth. Slayton asked James McDivitt, the designated commander of the second mission, if he still wanted to fly it. McDivitt turned it down; his crew had spent a great deal of time preparing to test the LM, and that was what he still wanted to do. When Borman was asked the same question, he answered "yes" without any hesitation. Slayton then decided to swap the crews and spacecraft, so Borman, Lovell, and Anders's mission became Apollo 8. Anders was less enthusiastic about being the Lunar Module pilot of a mission without a Lunar Module.

According to Borman:

Earthrise

thumb|right|[[Earthrise, taken by Anders on 24 December 1968]]

In December 1968, Anders flew on the Apollo 8 mission, the first mission where humans traveled beyond low Earth orbit, When the spacecraft came out from behind the Moon for its fourth pass across the front, the crew witnessed an "Earthrise" for the first time in human history.)

Anders saw the Earth emerging from behind the lunar horizon and called in excitement to the others, taking a black-and-white photograph as he did so. Anders asked Lovell for color film and then took Earthrise, which was later picked by Life magazine as one of its hundred photos of the century. Anders reflected on the lasting impact of the Earthrise photograph, noting that it gained iconic status over time and helped people realize the need to take care of our fragile planet. He remarked on the photograph's message for humanity, highlighting the contrast between our only home and the conflicts, including nuclear threats and terrorism, that we face. "It amazes me."

According to Anders:

On conservation of the planet, he said:

The Apollo 8 command module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on 27 December after a flight lasting 147 hours and 42 seconds and a voyage of . It landed just from the recovery ship, the aircraft carrier . Due to time dilation, the three astronauts had aged about 150 microseconds less than people back on Earth (this is due to the "twins paradox" slowing time by ~300 microseconds [Special Relativity] and the lower gravity speeding up time by ~150 microseconds [General Relativity]).

Apollo 11

The July 1969 Apollo 11 mission was commanded by Armstrong, with Collins as the CMP and Aldrin as the LMP. The Apollo 8 crew became its backup, but without Borman. Lovell stepped up to become the backup commander, and Anders became the backup CMP, with rookie astronaut Fred Haise as the backup LMP.

NASC, AEC, and NRC

Anders could see that Project Apollo was coming to a close and felt that his chances of commanding a Moon mission were slim. On 16 May 1969, President Richard Nixon nominated him to become the executive secretary of the National Aeronautics and Space Council (NASC). This was the highest government post ever offered to an astronaut up to that time. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on 19 June. The Space Council consisted of the Administrator of NASA, the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), and the Secretaries of State, Defense, and Transportation, and was chaired by the Vice President. Due to his commitment to the Apollo 11 backup crew, Anders was unable to assume the position until August.

thumb|right|Anders sprayed with a fire hose by his son Greg at [[Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in 2008]]

In his new role, Anders was responsible for developing aeronautical and space policy.

Nixon was impressed by Anders and wanted to retain him in the administration. On 6 August 1973, he appointed Anders to the five-member AEC. Nixon felt that the commission was dominated by lawyers and he wanted an engineer on it. The chairman of the AEC, Dixy Lee Ray, appointed Anders to be the lead commissioner for nuclear and non-nuclear power research and development. He also served as the U.S. chairman of the joint US-Soviet Union nuclear fission and fusion power technology exchange program.

Private sector

Anders served briefly as a fellow of the American Enterprise Institute. In September 1977, he joined General Electric (GE) as its vice president and general manager of its Nuclear Products Division. Based in San Jose, California, Anders was responsible for the fuel, equipment, and instrumentation used in its boiling water reactors in San Jose and Wilmington, North Carolina. He also oversaw GE's partnership with Chicago Bridge & Iron Company, which manufactured large steel pressure vessels in Memphis, Tennessee. In August 1979, GE sent him to Harvard Business School to attend its six-week Advanced Management Program. On 1 January 1980, he became the general manager of the GE Aircraft Equipment Division. From its headquarters in Utica, New York, the division controlled more than 8,500 employees in five locations in the northeastern United States. Its products included aircraft flight and weapon control systems, cockpit instruments, aircraft electrical generating systems, airborne radars and data processing systems, electronic countermeasures, space command systems, and aircraft/surface multi-barrel armament systems. Soon after he took over as CEO, the company lost $700 million (equivalent to $&nbsp;billion in ) in write-offs over the canceled A-12 Avenger II program. The January 1991 cancelation directly caused about 3,500 employees to be laid-off at the Fort Worth, Texas plant that built the A-12. On 19 June 1991, Anders announced that General Dynamics was moving its corporate headquarters from St. Louis, Missouri, to Falls Church, Virginia, to be closer to its military customers at The Pentagon. The move started on 20 December 1991, with 110 of the 275 headquarters employees moving to the Washington Beltway location, and 50 remaining in the accounting office in St. Louis, leaving 115 unemployed.

When Anders took over, General Dynamics was in financial trouble. The quarter before he became chairman and CEO was the worst in the company's history, losing $858 million (equivalent to $&nbsp;billion in ) between October and December 1990. Anders sold off assets worth nearly $3&nbsp;billion (equivalent to $&nbsp;billion in ), including the missile-systems business and the subsidiary of Cessna. On 9 December 1992, he sold the military aircraft division, which made the F-16 jet fighter, to the Lockheed Corporation for $1.5&nbsp;billion (equivalent to $&nbsp;billion in ). These selloffs reduced the number of employees from 98,600 to around 35,000, and the company's debt from $430&nbsp;million (equivalent to $&nbsp;million in ) to $183&nbsp;million (equivalent to $&nbsp;million in ). GD shareholders received $600&nbsp;million in dividends. Although annual sales dropped from $10 to $3.5&nbsp;billion, the value of the company's share price quadrupled. Anders earned over $40&nbsp;million. He retired as CEO in 1993, and as chairman on 4 May 1994.

thumb|right|Anders taxiing a [[North American P-51 Mustang at Bergen Air Show in 2005]]

Retirement and death

After retirement, Anders and his wife purchased a house in Anacortes, Washington, overlooking Puget Sound and Burrows Island. After realizing he disliked the winters in northwest Washington, he purchased a second home in Point Loma, California.

Anders died on 7 June 2024, at the age of 90, while flying the vintage T-34 registered to him. The aircraft crashed into the waters of north Puget Sound between Jones Island and Orcas Island. Witnesses reported the plane in a nosedive into a small channel between the islands, catching fire, then sinking. After a search by the U.S. Coast Guard and the San Juan County Sheriff's Department, Greg Anders confirmed the death of his father and the recovery of his body. Beginning with his Air Force career, Anders had logged over 8,000 flight hours.

Publications

Awards and honors

  • Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
  • Air Force Commendation Medal Harmon, Dr. Robert H. Goddard and General Thomas D. White USAF Trophies
  • Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement (1969)
  • American Astronautical Society's Flight Achievement Award
  • In October 2018, the International Astronomical Union named a crater seen in the Anders's photo as "Anders' Earthrise".
  • Along with his Apollo 8 crewmembers, Anders received AIAA's Haley Astronautics Award in 1970.
  • In March 2023, Bill Anders was awarded the 2023 Michael Collins Trophy for Lifetime Achievement; by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Anders was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1983, the International Air & Space Hall of Fame in 1990, the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997, and the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2004. He was a member of Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Honor Society, American Nuclear Society, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Academy of Engineering, and Society of Experimental Test Pilots. Anders appeared in the 2005 documentary Race to the Moon, which was shown as part of the PBS American Experience television series (season 18, episode 2). He was interviewed for a chapter of the 2015 book No More Worlds to Conquer by Chris Wright. The chapter is roughly evenly split between his life in the Apollo program and his later corporate life. The book's front cover is the Earthrise image. He appeared with fellow astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell on the C-SPAN book review, Rocket Men. He confirmed the story that he had fallen asleep while awaiting the Apollo 8 launch.

A sample of Anders' Genesis reading from Apollo 8 was used in the track Let There Be Light on the album Songs of Distant Earth by Mike Oldfield.

See also

  • The Astronaut Monument
  • List of spaceflight records
  • Lai Ka Ying

Footnotes

Notes

References

  • NASA biography