Tribute to Bill Anders, Apollo 8

America has so much more to be proud of … than many know. Sometimes, an event occurs that stops us, takes us back, and involuntarily reminds us how lucky we are, the legacy we share. The death of Bill Anders, the Apollo 8 astronaut, who was first around the moon, does that.

For those not alive in the 1960s, or like me who often forget, here are the basics. In 1968, the “Space Race” was underway, a proxy for nuclear war with the Soviet Union. JFK – and the nation – proposed in 1961 a human race to the moon. The Soviets, well ahead, accepted.

With the contest joined, February 1967 saw America suffer a body blow. Three astronauts were killed in a pad fire before any Apollo launched. America’s one-man Mercury and two-man Gemini missions were over, and three-man Apollo missions and the moon were next, nearly impossible.

After intensive review, design revisions, and five unmanned missions, Apollo 7 in Earth orbit to test the Command Module, hope grew that Apollo could stay on track. The race was intense.  

By late 1968, Apollo 8’s prime crew – Bill Anders, Frank Borman, and Michael Collins – were set to test the Lunar Module (LM), a spider-like lander, in near-Earth orbit.

Schedules were tight, and big things shifted. Michael Collins, later Command Module pilot for Apollo 11, unexpectedly needed back surgery. He was replaced on Apollo 8 by Jim Lovell, part of Apollo 8’s backup crew, which interestingly included Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

Then NASA got word the LM was not ready, creating a dilemma. Wait for the LM to be ready before launching Apollo 8, losing time, or do a daring change-up, swap Apollo 8 for Apollo 9?

Where Apollo 9 was to prove America could get to the moon distance, orbit, and come back, Apollo 8 was only supposed to go into Earth orbit, test the LM, and come home.

Now, suddenly, all that changed. With no LM to test, was it possible for Bill Anders, Jim Lovell, and Frank Borman to change training, instead shoot for the moon itself, go out, and back safely?

They agreed to try, and so Apollo 8 – only a second manned Apollo – set their sights on the moon, and three men sat on the enormous Saturn V rocket, never before loaded with humans, the largest rocket Mankind has ever made, and resolved to get out to the moon.

Behind the scenes, NASA had another concern.  While the Space Race was about landing men on the moon, which America did in Apollo 11, and again in 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 (13 was the miracle return, after a mid-course explosion), NASA feared the Soviets might go out and back with humans and claim victory. Sending Apollo 8 around the moon would prevent that.

So, Bill Anders, Jim Lovell, and Frank Borman lit “the candle,” and Americans held their breath. No human had ever left Earth’s gravitational field, let alone gone to the moon, gotten into lunar orbit, orbited without crashing, fired their engines for return – out to the orb and back.

On Christmas Eve 1968, as fate had it, the three attempted the feat and did it. America became the first to get men to “moon distance,” proving it was possible to go out and get home.

Hard to express was the jolt created by Bill Anders’ photograph known as “Earthrise,” taken while the Apollo 8 crew emerged from the moon’s backside. They suddenly saw not a sunrise or moonrise as on Earth, but an “Earthrise,” emergence from shadows of the miracle we call home, a delicate, lovely, indescribably gorgeous ball of blue and green backed by black space.

The picture, even now, is haunting, humbling, strangely emblematic of how unlikely our existence is in the vast universe, how miraculous is life, and how bound to one another we are – and must realize we are – despite our conflicts. We Earthlings are alone; we need each other.

That is what Bill’s photo showed us, or what it said to many.  Like someone finding a mirror, suddenly face to face with themselves, we all saw what words and imagination fail to convey. Bill Anders’ photo showed us how special, solitary, and precious we all are, to each other.

As if God has aligned time, space, survival, and faith for the moment, Bill’s photo, and the revelation that Apollo 8 could get to the moon, all coincided with Christmas Eve. So, the crew read from Genesis., Bill began, “In the beginning …” He was then followed by Lovell and Borman.

If you have never seen or heard it, just do so. The link is here. You will be moved, and cannot help but be moved. Anyone of faith, humility, gratitude, reflection, wonder, and wishing for relief from modern weariness will be. It is a marvel to hear again; we have it in us when we try.

After Apollo 8’s breathtaking journey to the moon, America’s confidence returned. Now 55 years ago, Apollo 11’s Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon, as Collins orbited.  While Bill’s death – family man, pilot, astronaut, Air Force general, and pioneer – is a loss, his life was and remains a gift. Americans are by nature daring, and he personified that all his life.

Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC.