William Alison Anders (born October 17, 1933) is a retired United States Air Force major general, former electrical engineer, nuclear engineer, NASA astronaut, and businessman. In December 1968, as a crew member of Apollo 8, he was one of the first three people to leave low Earth orbit and travel to the Moon. Along with fellow astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell, Anders circled the Moon ten times, and broadcast live images and commentary back to Earth. During one of the mission's lunar orbits, he took the iconic Earthrise photograph
On Apollo 8 he flew with Jim Lovell and Frank Borman becoming the first men to leave earth orbit and circle the moon. They made a memorable
Christmas Eve television broadcast showing the lunar surface and
reading from the first chapter of Genesis.