William Anders, the Apollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic photo of Earth in 1968, died in a plane crash.

The image of Anders, who died at the age of 90, gave us our first long-range view of the planet

Former Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders , who in 1968 took the iconic photo showing the Earth rising above the moon’s horizon, died this Friday at the age of 90 when the small plane he was traveling in crashed in Seattle, NASA confirmed.

“In 1968, during the Apollo 8 mission, Will Anders gave humanity one of the most precious gifts an astronaut can give. “He visited the threshold of the moon and helped us all see something else: ourselves,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in the Apollo 8 program.” X-account of the agency. “He embodied the lessons and purpose of exploration. He will be missed,” he said.