Editing William Anders (section)

=== Apollo 8 ===
[[File:As8 genesis1a.ogv|thumb|The [[Apollo 8]] 1968 Christmas Eve [[Apollo 8 Genesis reading|broadcast and reading]] from the [[Book of Genesis]] while in lunar orbit]]
On 22 December 1966, Anders was assigned to the third Apollo mission, which was to be commanded by [[Frank Borman]], with [[command module pilot]] (CMP) [[Michael Collins (astronaut)|Michael Collins]]; Neil Armstrong, [[Jim Lovell]] and Buzz Aldrin were assigned as their backup crew the following year.{{sfn|Brooks|Grimwood|Swenson|1979|p=374}} Collins was replaced by Lovell in July 1968, after suffering a [[Spinal disc herniation|cervical disc herniation]] that required surgery to repair.{{sfn|Collins|2001|pp=288–294}} The mission, scheduled for December 1968, was intended to be a second test of the [[Apollo Lunar Module]] (LM) in medium Earth orbit,{{sfn|Brooks|Grimwood|Swenson|1979|pp=231–234}} but the delivery of the LM fell behind schedule, and when it arrived at the [[Kennedy Space Center]] (KSC) in June 1968, more than a hundred significant defects were discovered. There was no prospect of it being ready to fly in 1968.{{sfn|Brooks|Grimwood|Swenson|1979|p=256}} In August 1968, there were reports, including one from the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], that the [[Soviet Union]] was planning a crewed circumlunar mission before the end of the year.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|p=189}}<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Poised for the Leap |url=http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,844661-1,00.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204221712/http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,844661-1,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 February 2013 |access-date=15 December 2011 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=6 December 1968 }}</ref>

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.{{sfn|Brooks|Grimwood|Swenson|1979|pp=257–260}} 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.{{sfn|Brooks|Grimwood|Swenson|1979|p=262}} When Borman was asked the same question, he answered "yes" without any hesitation.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|p=189}} Slayton then decided to swap the crews and spacecraft, so Borman, Lovell, and Anders' mission became [[Apollo 8]].{{sfn|Brooks|Grimwood|Swenson|1979|p=262}}{{sfn|Collins|2001|pp=296–298}} Anders was less enthusiastic about being the Lunar Module pilot of a mission without a Lunar Module.

According to Borman:{{blockquote|Rookie Bill Anders was thirty-five, slightly built, a devout Roman Catholic, and very serious minded. I'm not sure he ever got used to my rough sense of humor or Lovell's free-wheeling spirit. But Anders was one hell of a worker, a superb technician and all in all a great guy. Anders was always friendly and cooperative, but he avoided the usual astronaut bull sessions. Some of the guys regarded him as a younger version of Frank Borman in his single-minded concentration on work, his aversion to unnecessary conversation.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|p=189}} }}

==== Earthrise ====
{{Main|Earthrise}}
[[File:NASA-Apollo8-Dec24-Earthrise.jpg|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]],<ref name="nasabio" /> and the first crewed flight to reach and orbit the Moon.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chasing the Moon: Transcript, Part Two |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/chasing-moon/#transcript |website=American Experience |publisher=PBS |access-date=24 July 2019 |date=10 July 2019 |archive-date=31 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230831002908/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/chasing-moon/#transcript |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref name="journal day 4-456" /> NASA's [[Lunar Orbiter 1]] had taken the first picture of an Earthrise from the vicinity of the Moon, on 23 August 1966.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/the-other-lunar-orbiter-1-earthrise-image/ |title=The 'Other' Lunar Orbiter 1 Earthrise Image |publisher=Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute |access-date=28 November 2018 |archive-date=25 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325203153/https://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/the-other-lunar-orbiter-1-earthrise-image/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

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)|Life]]'' magazine as one of its hundred photos of the century.<ref name="journal day 4-456">{{cite web |url=https://history.nasa.gov/ap08fj/14day4_orbits456.htm |title=Day 4: Lunar Orbits 4, 5 and 6 |last1=Woods |first1=W. David |last2=O'Brien |first2=Frank |date=22 April 2006 |work=Apollo 8 Flight Journal |publisher=NASA |access-date=20 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071002204030/https://history.nasa.gov/ap08fj/14day4_orbits456.htm |archive-date=2 October 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/who-took-legendary-earthrise-photo-apollo-8-180967505/ |title=Who Took the Legendary Earthrise Photo From Apollo 8? |magazine=Smithsonian |first=Andrew |last=Chaikin |access-date=28 November 2018 |archive-date=28 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728035707/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/who-took-legendary-earthrise-photo-apollo-8-180967505/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/dec/24/earthrise-how-the-iconic-image-changed-the-world|title=Earthrise: how the iconic image changed the world|last=Sample|first=Ian|date=24 December 2018|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=24 December 2018|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=8 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240608003849/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/dec/24/earthrise-how-the-iconic-image-changed-the-world|url-status=live}}</ref>
According to Anders:

{{blockquote
| text=We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-the-National-Academy-of-Sciences-Annual-Meeting|publisher=[[White House]]|title=Remarks by the President at the National Academy of Sciences Annual Meeting|via=[[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]]|date=April 27, 2009|access-date=2 March 2021|archive-date=22 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240122191356/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-national-academy-sciences-annual-meeting|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nmspacemuseum">{{cite web|url=http://www.nmspacemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.php?id=71|title=Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 8, the first mission to circumnavigate the Moon|website=nmspacemuseum.org|publisher=New Mexico Museum of Space History|access-date=25 April 2012|archive-date=13 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313222058/http://www.nmspacemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.php?id=71|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}

On conservation of the planet, he said:
{{blockquote|If you can imagine yourself in a darkened room with only one clearly visible object, a small blue-green sphere about the size of a Christmas-tree ornament, then you can begin to grasp what the Earth looks like from space. I think that all of us subconsciously think that the Earth is flat&nbsp;... Let me assure you that, rather than a massive giant, it should be thought of as the fragile Christmas-tree ball which we should handle with considerable care.{{sfn|Nicks|1970|p=14}}}}

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 {{convert|504006|nmi|km|order=out}}. It landed just {{convert|2|nmi|km|order=out}} from the recovery ship, the [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Yorktown|CV-10|6}}.{{sfn|Orloff|2000|p=40}} Due to [[time dilation]], the three astronauts had aged about 300 microseconds more than people back on Earth.{{sfn|Science and Technology Division, Library of Congress|1970|p=71}}