Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders, who captured one of the most popular photographs from outer space, died in a plane crash at the age of 90.
According to officials, in the sea off Washington state, a small plane he was piloting crashed. bbc.
Anders' son Greg confirmed Friday afternoon that his father's body was recovered.
“The family is devastated. He was a great driver. He will be missed,” read a statement from the family.
On the Apollo 8 mission, Anders, who was a lunar module pilot, captured the iconic photograph of Earthrise. It is one of the most memorable and inspiring images of Earth from space.
During the 1968 mission, the photograph was taken on Christmas Eve. It was the first manned space flight to leave Earth and reach the Moon. From the arid lunar surface, the image shows Earth rising above the horizon.
Anders later described this feat as his most notable contribution to the space program.
The image is widely credited with motivating the global environmental movement and leading to the creation of Earth Day, which is an annual event to raise awareness about the dying planet.
Anders had said when talking about the moment: “We came here to explore the Moon, and the most important thing we discovered was the Earth.”
Anders' plane crashed around 11:40 PDT (19:40 BST), authorities said.
Witness Philip Person said king-tv in Seattle who witnessed the accident.
The plane began to do what appeared to be a loop and inverted, he told the network.
“I couldn't believe what I was seeing in front of my eyes,” Person told the local news station. “It looked like something out of a movie or special effects. With the big explosion and the flames and everything.”
