Sad to read the news that William Anders was killed in a small plane crash yesterday. He was 90 years old.

Anders, the Lunar module pilot,  was one of the 3 Astronauts of Apollo 8, the other two being , Mission Commander Frank Borman & Command Module Pilot James Lovell, who were the first Astronauts to travel away from the Earth, orbit the Moon, see the far side of the moon,  then come back safely to Earth.

I can remember as a boy, watching the extended coverage of the journey on the BBC and being rivetted to the small telly we had over the Xmas of 1968.

On Christmas Eve  William Anders turned his camera toward Earth and captured the legendary Earthrise photo which has become iconic.

Those three Astronauts paved the way for the following missions that landed on the moon.

In a way, those three gentlemen were like the pioneers of old, such as Cook & Raleigh.

The Nottingham Evening Post had a big pullout about the mission, and I kept it for years. It was a very special time and I can remember Patrick Moore, of the Sky at Night programme describing every stage of the mission.

Here is a link about the Apollo 8 mission.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_8

Blimey @Robbie I well remember that mission and watching the Splash down and the Apollo Crew being brought on Board the Pick Up Ship along with my Dear Old Dad (well he wasn't Old then). There were many legendry films from the Apollo missions that remain in the memory from the Triumph of the Moon Landing and the Tragic Capsule fire which killed all the Crew. I believe that was the year before the Apollo 8 mission. And the Apollo 13 Mission and the Houston We Have A Problem line, which I Believe was Misquoted, not sure of the proper quote.

@Wheelbarrow repair man 

Can you remember James Burke who worked on these marathon programmes of the Apollo missions?

He worked on Tomorrow's World for many years. He's still going strong at 87.

The 3 Astronauts that died in the fire that engulfed their Command Module were working on Apollo 1 at the time.

When Apollo 13 had the explosion on the side of its Command Module,  Astronaut Swigert contacted mission control and said , "Okay Houston, we've had a problem here"

@Robbie

Yeah I remember James Burke well glad to know he's still alive and kicking. There was also a certain piece of music played to introduce the Apollo missions which was Presented by James, and during an interview James stated every time his wife  heard that piece of Music, she would say Listen Darling they're playing Our Tune.

The Fire in which the Astronauts died happened not long after 3 Russian Cosmonauts had died after the parachute on their Command Module failed to open, and as all Russian Rockets unlike the Americans   touched down on land instead of in the sea the 3 Guys perished, when their module crashed to Earth. (I think I'm right if memory serves).

Thanks for the correct message update regarding what was said on Apollo 13 to the Command Centre. You might like to know there's a very Funny Skit by Phil Jupitus on You Tube telling a the Story if Apollo 13 had been piloted by a crew of British Astronauts. He does all the different voices and it's well worth watching. If you haven't seen it already.