William A. Anders | |
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1967 photo
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NASA Astronaut | |
Nationality | American |
Status | Retired |
Born |
British Hong Kong |
October 17, 1933
Other names
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William Alison Anders |
Other occupation
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Fighter pilot |
USNA, B.S. 1955 AFIT, M.S. 1962 |
|
Rank | Major General, USAFR |
Time in space
|
6d 03h 00m |
Selection | 1963 NASA Group 3 |
Missions | Apollo 8 |
Mission insignia
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Retirement | September 1, 1969 |
Awards |
William Alison "Bill" Anders (born October 17, 1933), (Maj Gen, USAFR, Ret.), is a former United States Air Force officer, electrical engineer, nuclear engineer, NASA astronaut, and businessman. Anders, along with Apollo 8 crewmates Frank Borman and Jim Lovell, is one of the first three persons to have left Earth orbit and traveled to the Moon.
Anders was born on October 17, 1933, in Hong Kong, to U.S. Navy Lt. Arthur F. Anders (d. 2000) and Muriel Adams Anders (d. 1990). The family moved to Annapolis, Maryland, where Lt. Anders taught math at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. After that, the Anders returned to China, but Muriel and Bill escaped to the Philippines after the Japanese attacked Nanking. They escaped by troop train to Canton; eating Campbell's soup boiled in a bucket for sustenance. The hotel they stayed at was 200 yards from the river the Japanese were bombing, the same river they would have to travel down to escape. Their ship was the first to go down the river after the Chinese had mined it.
He was active in the Boy Scouts of America where he achieved its second-highest rank, Life Scout. Anders attended St. Martin's Academy and graduated from Grossmont High School in La Mesa, California, in 1951.