Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders killed in airplane crash

[invadertim]

William Anders, lunar module pilot for Apollo 8 died when the plane he was piloting crashed. He was 90 years old.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/07/scie...s-reportedly-killed-in-plane-crash/index.html

He was well known for taking this picture.

RIP

 

[Boots2Wings]

I know we all clown on the 65+ crowd flying, but imho aviators of this caliber deserve to go out any damn well they please (as long as they dont take others).

Tailwinds out west sir.

 

[FlyingAccountant]

There’s a video out there of it that I’m too inebriated to link to at the moment. Looks like he started a loop too low and hit the surface of a lake on the way out. He definitely didn’t feel any pain.

Gnarly way to go out at 90 years old.

 

[Skåning]

There’s a video out there of it that I’m too inebriated to link to at the moment

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[USMCmech]

I know we all clown on the 65+ crowd flying, but imho aviators of this caliber deserve to go out any damn well they please (as long as they dont take others).

Tailwinds out west sir.

I don't see the passing of someone over 75 as a tragedy. If I'm still flying at 90, I wouldn't complain about this way of going home.

He had an amazing life and career. He, Borman, & Lovell were the first humans to see the whole earth and his picture is one of the most impactful photographs of all time.

“We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth,”

 

[knot4u]

General Bill Anders used to also compete in the Reno air races racing an F8F "Wampus Cat" and a P-51D "Val-Halla" in the Unlimited class. Sometimes he'd fly both in different races the same day. He will be missed.

 

[CFI A&P]

He had an amazing life and career. He, Borman, & Lovell were the first humans to see the whole earth and his picture is one of the most impactful photographs of all time.

A mentee of mine asked me for a fast and uneducated analysis, aka Gryder, I declined but did say something similar. Just knowing who the pilot was, and what an f’ing amazing career he’s had, and he’s still flying at 90!

Heck of a way to go out, but what a journey he had along the way.

 

[///AMG]

Pretty wild news. I was right on the beach, with a direct view to where this happened (maybe 15-20 miles away), when it happened. We were having our command BBQ for our drill weekend. Crazy this all went down, basically within view. I do remember seeing SAR launch, and several other helos passing by on their way north. Wild.

 

[Autothrust Blue]

A mentee of mine asked me for a fast and uneducated analysis, aka Gryder, I declined but did say something similar. Just knowing who the pilot was, and what an f’ing amazing career he’s had, and he’s still flying at 90!

Heck of a way to go out, but what a journey he had along the way.

It’s one of those “the most important hour is the one that you’re about to fly” kind of lessons, I think, if I may so observe. Heck of a way indeed, especially considering how ambitious if not outright crazy the Apollo 8 mission really was. (A 13-style mishap on that mission would have resulted in the loss of the crew.)

I always find the lives of these men after engaging in one of the most hazardous endeavors ever conceived to be interesting. It’s amazing the Apollo-Saturn system worked at all, and in many regards if not for the AS-204/Apollo 1 fire, NASA would have almost certainly killed astronauts in space and not on the pad. Commanders almost universally had long careers in aerospace management and leadership whereas lunar module pilots seemed to get into the more creative endeavors. CMPs seemed to do a little of everything.

Related reading: I really liked Fred Haise’s book, Never Panic Early, and I really liked Pete Conrad’s biography, Rocketman. The former darn near bought his own farm in the 1970s aboard a CAF BT-13 in a landing accident, and the latter died up near Ojai on his motorcycle. Mike Collins’s book Carrying the Fire is probably the best of the astronaut biographies of that generation, too.

 

[MikeD]

One of the best museums out there with the stories and artifacts of both Gemini and Apollo programs, is the LtGen Thomas P Stafford museum in Weatherford, OK, west of OKC. An amazing collection of memorabilia and history.

 

[tomokc]

I was part of a small group that received a tour of the Stafford museum a few years ago, conducted by General Stafford himself. Ever accommodating and still sharp as a tack, he described the launch experiences of Gemini v. Apollo, the design of the Apollo-Soyuz docking ring, the unopened bottle of "last man" vodka from that mission, and told the story of the MIG-21 whose pilot defected, and which bears his name on the canopy frame. If you're ever in western Oklahoma, go visit!

 

[MikeD]

I was part of a small group that received a tour of the Stafford museum a few years ago, conducted by General Stafford himself. Ever accommodating and still sharp as a tack, he described the launch experiences of Gemini v. Apollo, the design of the Apollo-Soyuz docking ring, the unopened bottle of "last man" vodka from that mission, and told the story of the MIG-21 whose pilot defected, and which bears his name on the canopy frame. If you're ever in western Oklahoma, go visit!

I spent nearly all day at that place, and over at Clinton-Sherman airport where the F-117 is being assembled, giving advice and showing the crews what was what around that particular tail number that I’d flown a good number of times myself, since the jet was sent to them with no publications of any kind.

The cool memorabilia, the Gemini module, the Apollo-Soyuz memorabilia of which Stafford was on……amazing history. The museum is in the middle of nowhere in Stafford’s hometown, but well worth the trip.

 

[Autothrust Blue]

I was part of a small group that received a tour of the Stafford museum a few years ago, conducted by General Stafford himself. Ever accommodating and still sharp as a tack, he described the launch experiences of Gemini v. Apollo, the design of the Apollo-Soyuz docking ring, the unopened bottle of "last man" vodka from that mission, and told the story of the MIG-21 whose pilot defected, and which bears his name on the canopy frame. If you're ever in western Oklahoma, go visit!

I forget which of the Gemini astronauts wrote about it, but the launch escape system on that capsule was ejection seats.

They would not have lived through that, with a 100% oxygen atmosphere, lighting off the seat rockets; they would have been Roman candles, not astronauts, after that escape sequence.

 

[MikeD]

The Gemini module reminds me of a mini F-111 cockpit. Here’s the one at Stafford museum that I snapped a pic of

 

[MikeD]

Apollo Saturn V information, and both the US and USSR Apollo-Soyuz patches, at Stafford.

 

[FlyingAccountant]

I couldn't imagine spending two weeks in a space not much bigger than the front seat of a car next to another person. Gemini was wild.

 

[invadertim]

I forget which of the Gemini astronauts wrote about it, but the launch escape system on that capsule was ejection seats.

They would not have lived through that, with a 100% oxygen atmosphere, lighting off the seat rockets; they would have been Roman candles, not astronauts, after that escape sequence.

I dunno; they wouldn’t be in that environment for more than a second or two after ignition of the seat motor, which would be following the jettison of the hatch above them, and they’d be WELL ventilated quickly afterwards. They also would have a degree of protection from their spacesuits. Just as well we don’t know I suppose.

 

[luke3]

Apollo-Soyuz was wild. Stafford's quick reaction in putting everyone on oxygen after re-entry likely saved the whole crew. I believe one if not both of the other astronauts had passed out from hydrazine inhalation after the RCS thrusters were inadvertently left on. They also smacked the adapter pretty hard during docking with Soyuz. Hoot Gibson talks about it on one of his interviews on youtube. It was hard enough that the Russians still remembered it years later, and when planning the Space Shuttle - Mir docking, NASA chose to make Hoot the Shuttle commander for that flight to appease them. He was head of the astronaut office at the time and his title helped put the Russians at ease, even though it went against traditional courtesy of not assigning yourself the most high profile missions as head of the office.

Anyway back on topic. Hell of a way to go. But in a way I'd like to be 90, still in good enough health to fly and capable of doing aerobatics. He went doing what he loved and didn't hurt anyone else. I'd much rather die like that than rot away in a hospital bed

 

[invadertim]

The Gemini module reminds me of a mini F-111 cockpit. Here’s the one at Stafford museum that I snapped a pic of

View attachment 78304View attachment 78305

Imagine spending two weeks in that thing, Gemini 7’s crew did.

 

[ArcherII]

Imagine spending two weeks in that thing, Gemini 7’s crew did.

According to Lovell, there may or may not had been a flying turd incident.