Was William Anders Killed in a Plane Crash?

[pinball1970]

T.I.L. William Anders killed in a plane crash.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Anders

“In December 1968, Anders flew on the Apollo 8 mission, the first mission where humans traveled beyond low Earth orbit,[9] and the first crewed flight to reach and orbit the Moon.[21] 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.[22]”

 

[gmax137]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Alison Anders (17 October 1933 – 7 June 2024) was an American United States Air Force (USAF) major general, electrical engineer, nuclear engineer, NASA astronaut, and businessman. In December 1968, he was a member of the crew of Apollo 8, the first three people to leave low Earth orbit and travel to the Moon. Along with fellow astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell, he circled the Moon ten times, and broadcast live images and commentary back to Earth, including the Christmas Eve Genesis reading. During one of the mission's lunar orbits, he took the iconic Earthrise photograph.

A 1955 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Anders was commissioned a second lieutenant in the USAF the same year and became a fighter pilot flying Northrop F-89 Scorpions equipped with MB-1 nuclear-tipped air-to-air missiles. He hoped to study aeronautical engineering through the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) of Air University, but the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion program was ongoing, and he had to study nuclear engineering instead. He 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.

Anders was the executive secretary of the National Aeronautics and Space Council from 1969 to 1973, a commissioner of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission from 1973 to 1975, and chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from 1975 to 1976. He then became the U.S. ambassador to Norway from 1976 to 1977. In September 1977, he joined General Electric (GE) as the vice president and general manager of its Nuclear Products Division and became the general manager of the GE Aircraft Equipment Division in 1980. He left GE to join Textron as executive vice president for aerospace, and two years later became senior executive vice president for operations. During his time in the Civil Service, he remained a USAF reserve officer and retained his active flight status. He retired from the reserve as a major general in 1988. In 1990, he became vice chairman of General Dynamics, and in 1991 its chairman and CEO. He retired as CEO in 1993 and as chairman in 1994.

While Anders was flying his vintage Beechcraft T-34 Mentor over the San Juan Islands of Washington state, the plane was reported on 7 June 2024 as having crashed into Puget Sound. His body was recovered later that day after a search by the U.S. Coast Guard and the San Juan County Sheriff's Department.

That's a pretty impressive life story.

 

[berkeman]

Yeah, that's a lot of stuff!

You have to kind of wonder about the use-case for an air-to-air nuclear missle, though. I'll have to read up on that one...

became a fighter pilot flying Northrop F-89 Scorpions equipped with MB-1 nuclear-tipped air-to-air missiles.

 

[berkeman]

Looks like once you fire that missile, you Split-S and go to afterburner...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIR-2_Genie

 

[fresh_42]

I copied an earlier post about him from the TIL thread. I thought it belonged here, too.

 

[gmax137]

I copied an earlier post about him from the TIL thread. I thought it belonged here, too.

Here it is, I didn't see it earlier.

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/today-i-learned.783257/post-7095125

 

[hutchphd]

Looks like once you fire that missile, you Split-S and go to afterburner...

Looks like that was the final maneuver he tried (sans missile)......sad.......very talented fellow. Not a terrible death, though. RIP.
The concept of a nuclear-tipped air to air missile was not nearly so outlandish in 1955 I think. Would have been a star wars quality defense . You want crazy look up the nuclear powered bombers proposals

 

[Astronuc]

Yeah, that's a lot of stuff!

You have to kind of wonder about the use-case for an air-to-air nuclear missle, though. I'll have to read up on that one...

From the article

A 1955 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Anders was commissioned a second lieutenant in the USAF the same year and became a fighter pilot flying Northrop F-89 Scorpions equipped with MB-1 nuclear-tipped air-to-air missiles.

Back in the 1950s, their perspective was that of WWII and bombing raids with dozens or hundreds of planes. Even as late as Vietnam, formations of B-52s carpet bombed various parts of Vietnam and E Cambodia (and apparently Laos).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Menu
https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/05/asia...g-cambodia-southeast-asia-intl-hnk/index.html

The range of MB-1 (Genie) was 6 miles (~ 9.7 km), and it was unguided - so shoot and scoot.
https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/model-missile-mb-1/nasm_A19981632000

Looking at why it was developed - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIR-2_Genie#Development
The assumption was there would be a formation of bombers carrying nuclear warheads.

There was also development of nuclear depth charges and nuclear torpedoes.

 

[Astronuc]

Anders: An Explorer
The third member of their crew, William Anders, was as intense as Borman but with the love of exploration that Lovell had. "When I was a kid, I was an explorer scout. And even before then, always interested in exploration; read books about Lewis and Clark and John Wesley Powell and the climbing of this mountain or that. ... I was always willing to go ... see what was on the other side of the mountain. And so Apollo in general, represented a massive opportunity to explore. And my main motivation was exploration. It was not so much the flying or the patriotism. Those were big elements but the main thing was the exploration."

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/moon-crew-apollo-8/