A US Naval Academy graduate and Air Force pilot, Anders joined NASA in 1963 as a member of the third group of astronauts. Carried by a Saturn V rocket never before used on a crewed flight and tested only twice, the spacecraft faced the delicate and daunting task of entering and leaving lunar orbit safely. "Here we came all the way to the moon to discover Earth," Anders later said. After Apollo 8, Anders never flew in space again but served on the National Aeronautics and Space Council. In the decades after Apollo 8, Anders joined Lovell, now 96, and Borman, who died last year at age 95, at anniversary celebrations of the mission.
