On June 7, while flying his plane off the coast of Washington State, Grossmont High School alum and former astronaut Bill Anders was killed (see official press release at end of the article).
Now, we celebrate his life.
Bill was on the historic Apollo 8 flight in 1968 that first circled the moon. When we opened the first Museum in 2008, Bill mailed us a copy of the iconic photo “Earthrise” that he took while circling the moon. He signed the photo in honor of our opening. “Earthrise” became a symbol of the environmental movement and led to the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970.
Five years later, in 2013, Bill visited the museum. In the one photo, Bill is standing in front of our three astronauts’ memorabilia (see below). His Apollo 8 memorabilia is to the right of him in 1969 at a school assembly, he had donated to Grossmont High School a California flag and the Apollo 8 patch he carried on board the flight with the signatures of all three of the crew members: Frank Borman, James Lovell, and Bill Anders and a note “To Grossmont High School.”
On the 50th anniversary of the flight of Apollo 8, Bill gave us another autographed photo, this time of two craters on the moon, one named to honor “Earthrise” and one to honor Apollo 8’s flight home.
“In October 2018, to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 8 mission, the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature approved the naming of two craters on the Moon to honor this historic moment: previously designated by numbers, the craters are now named “Anders Earthrise” and “8 Homeward.”
In 2018, Bill shared with us this reflection on his historic experiences in space: “The message of my iconic “Earthrise” picture is sinking in more and more. In short, it’s ironic that Apollo 8 came to explore the moon, but what we really discovered was the earth—small, beautiful, fragile, physically and astronomically insignificant yet humankind’s home that we need to take better care of.”
Email us at [email protected] if you’d like to read the entire La Mesa Courier column we wrote in 2018 to honor the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 8 flight and “Earthrise”.
On 6/7/24, around 5:37 PM, a search team consisting of members of the WA Department of Fish & Wildlife and CBP/ Department of Homeland Security recovered the body of a deceased male from the downed aircraft in San Juan Channel near Jones Island in San Juan County, WA. It appears that this male was the sole occupant of the aircraft as the plane is a two-seat plane and the rear seat still had the safety harness secured tightly to the seat. The NTSB was contacted and informed of the results of the search as well as the location of the wreckage.
The pilot’s wallet with his identification were located on his person and entered into the property room to be returned to the family at a later time. The victim of this tragic accident was turned over to the San Juan County Coroner’s Office who will make the proper notifications to the family and the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office will not be giving out information on the victim’s identity.
This is a very somber and tragic incident, and the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office sends its sincere condolences and prayers to the victim and his family.
Eric Peter- Sheriff
