1. William Alison Anders was an American United States Air Force major general, electrical engineer, nuclear engineer, NASA astronaut, and businessman.
65 Facts About William Anders
1. 2.
William Anders hoped to study aeronautical engineering through the Air Force Institute of Technology of Air University, but the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion program was ongoing, and he had to study nuclear engineering instead.
3.
William Anders graduated from the AFIT in 1962 with a Master of Science degree in nuclear engineering and was sent to the Air Force Weapons Laboratory, where he managed the technical aspects of the USAF nuclear power reactor programs.
4.
William 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.
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William Anders then became the United States Ambassador to Norway from 1976 to 1977.
6.
William Anders left GE to join Textron as executive vice president for aerospace, and two years later became senior executive vice president for operations.
7.
William Anders retired from the reserve as a major general in 1988.
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William Anders retired as CEO in 1993 and as chairman in 1994.
9.
William Anders died in a crash of his Beechcraft T-34 Mentor in June 2024 near the San Juan Islands.
10.
William Alison Anders was born in Hong Kong on 17 October 1933, the son of Arthur Ferdinand Anders, a United States Navy lieutenant, and his wife, Muriel A Anders.
11.
Arthur William Anders was rescued by the British and sent to San Diego Naval Hospital to recover from his wounds and a staphylococcal infection.
12.
William Anders was awarded the Purple Heart and the Navy Cross but was discharged from the Navy owing to his wounds.
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William Anders was recalled to active duty during World War II.
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The family returned to the United States, where William Anders was active in the Boy Scouts, achieving the organization's second-highest rank, Life Scout.
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William Anders commuted to Boyden by bus from La Mesa, California.
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William Anders was fascinated with flight and built model aircraft.
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William Anders received an appointment to Annapolis, following in the footsteps of his father, who had graduated with the Class of 1927.
18.
William Anders earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1955.
19.
William Anders 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.
20.
William Anders spoke to Chuck Yeager, who recommended that he first obtain an advanced degree.
21.
William Anders submitted an application to the Air Force Institute of Technology 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.
22.
William Anders graduated from the AFIT with a Master of Science degree in nuclear engineering in 1962.
23.
William Anders now applied to the USAF Aerospace Research Pilots School for test pilot training, but on 5 June 1963, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced that it would be recruiting ten to fifteen new astronauts for Project Gemini and Project Apollo, and William Anders decided to apply for that too.
24.
William Anders was one of the 34 finalists chosen for interviews, and on his birthday, 17 October 1963, he was informed by Mercury Seven astronaut Deke Slayton that he had been accepted as a member of the third group of NASA astronauts.
25.
Armstrong and William Anders then became the first astronauts to fly the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle.
26.
On 22 December 1966, William Anders was assigned to the third Apollo mission, which was to be commanded by Frank Borman, with command module pilot Michael Collins; Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin were assigned as their backup crew the following year.
27.
Slayton then decided to swap the crews and spacecraft, so Borman, Lovell, and William Anders' mission became Apollo 8.
28.
William Anders was less enthusiastic about being the Lunar Module pilot of a mission without a Lunar Module.
29.
Rookie Bill William Anders was thirty-five, slightly built, a devout Roman Catholic, and very serious minded.
30.
William Anders was always friendly and cooperative, but he avoided the usual astronaut bull sessions.
31.
In December 1968, William Anders flew on the Apollo 8 mission, the first mission where humans traveled beyond low-Earth orbit, and the first crewed flight to reach and orbit the Moon.
32.
William 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.
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William 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.
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William 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.
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William Anders 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.
36.
Lovell stepped up to become the backup commander, and William Anders became the backup CMP, with rookie astronaut Fred Haise as the backup LMP.
37.
William Anders worked closely with the Office of Science and Technology and the Office of Management and Budget and became a personal advisor to the OMB director, Caspar Weinberger.
38.
William Anders worked hard to bridge the gap between OMB and OST on the one hand and NASA on the other.
39.
William Anders became increasingly pessimistic about the future of the NASC and the space program generally.
40.
William Anders opposed the development of the Space Shuttle, urging instead that NASA concentrate on developing the Skylab space station.
41.
William Anders argued that a small Space Shuttle would be a better option than a large one, but the large one was approved because it would involve more jobs in California.
42.
Nixon was impressed by William Anders and wanted to retain him in the administration.
43.
The chairman of the AEC, Dixy Lee Ray, appointed William Anders to be the lead commissioner for nuclear and non-nuclear power research and development.
44.
William Anders served as the US chairman of the joint US-Soviet Union nuclear fission and fusion power technology exchange program.
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William Anders spent much of his time dealing with the AEC's problematic research and development programs, particularly the troubled breeder reactor program.
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William Anders was the only one of the five AEC commissioners to transition to one of the new organizations.
47.
William Anders made the decision process of the commissioners of the NRC more transparent than that of the AEC.
48.
William Anders did not want to, but asked his wife Valerie.
49.
William Anders expressed an interest in Norway, based on their trip there during the Apollo 8 world publicity tour.
50.
William Anders was appointed Ambassador to Norway on 13 April 1976 and held that post until 18 June 1977.
51.
William Anders served briefly as a fellow of the American Enterprise Institute.
52.
In 1984, William Anders left GE to join Textron as its executive vice president for aerospace.
53.
Two years later he became senior executive vice president for operations, but William Anders did not get along well with the CEO.
54.
William Anders was a consultant to the US Office of Science and Technology Policy, and a member of the Defense Science Board and the NASA Advisory Council.
55.
William Anders became vice chairman of General Dynamics in January 1990, and on 1 January 1991, its chairman and CEO.
56.
On 19 June 1991, William 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.
57.
When William Anders took over, General Dynamics was in financial trouble.
58.
William Anders retired as CEO in 1993, and as chairman on 4 May 1994.
59.
William Anders founded the Heritage Flight Museum in 1996 in Bellingham, Washington, which moved to Skagit Regional Airport in Burlington, Washington, in 2014.
60.
William Anders died on 7 June 2024, at the age of 90, while flying the vintage T-34 registered to him.
61.
William Anders 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.
62.
William Anders appeared as himself in the 2005 documentary Race to the Moon, which was shown as part of the PBS American Experience television series.
63.
William Anders was interviewed in a chapter of the 2015 book No More Worlds to Conquer by Chris Wright.
64.
William Anders appeared with fellow astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell on the C-SPAN channel book review, Rocket Men.
65.
William Anders confirmed the story that he had fallen asleep while awaiting the Apollo 8 launch.