William Anders William " Bill " Alison Anders ( born October 17 , 1933 ) is a former United States Air Force officer , NASA astronaut and businessman . He is , along with Apollo 8 crewmates Frank Borman and Jim Lovell , one of the first three persons to have left Earth orbit and traveled to the Moon ( of only 24 people to date ) . Biography . Anders was born to U . S . Navy Lt . Arthur F . Anders and Muriel Adams Anders in Hong Kong , and was active in the Boy Scouts of America where he achieved its second - highest rank , Life Scout . Anders attended St . Martin ' s Academy and Grossmont High School in La Mesa , California . He was born and raised Catholic . Anders married Valerie Hoard in 1955 . The couple have four sons and two daughters . They live in Washington state . Academic career . He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1955 and a Master of Science degree in nuclear engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright - Patterson Air Force Base , Ohio , in 1962 . Anders completed the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program in 1979 . USAF experience . After graduating from the Naval Academy , Anders took his commission in the U . S . Air Force and served as a fighter pilot in all - weather interceptor squadrons of the Air Defense Command . He later was responsible for technical management of nuclear power reactor shielding and radiation effects programs while at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory in New Mexico . NASA experience . In 1963 , Anders was selected by NASA in the third group of astronauts . He became involved in the NASA work in the areas of dosimetry , radiation effects , and environmental controls . He was the backup pilot for the Gemini 11 mission ; the lunar module pilot for the Apollo 8 mission , the first manned lunar orbit mission , in December 1968 . Anders took a celebrated photograph of Earthrise . He served as backup command module pilot for the Apollo 11 mission , before accepting an assignment with the National Aeronautics and Space Council , while still remaining an astronaut . He has logged more than 6 , 000 hours of flight time . His famous quote " We came all this way to explore the Moon , and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth " and the first pictures taken of the earth from the Moon , inspired environmentalists everywhere . Post - NASA experience . From 1969 to 1973 , Anders served as executive secretary for the National Aeronautics and Space Council , which was responsible to the President , Vice President and Cabinet - level members of the Council for developing policy options concerning research , development , operations and planning of aeronautical and space systems . He was also a consultant to the Times - Mirror Organisation in Los Angeles , during which he visited one of T - M ' s several publishing companies , Jeppesen & Co . , in Frankfurt , Germany . On August 6 , 1973 , Anders was appointed to the five - member Atomic Energy Commission , where he was lead commissioner for nuclear and non - nuclear power R & D . He was also named as U . S . chairman of the joint U . S . / USSR technology exchange program for fission and fusion power . Following the reorganization of national nuclear regulatory and developmental activities on January 19 , 1975 , Anders was named by President Ford to become the first chairman of the newly established Nuclear Regulatory Commission , which is responsible for nuclear safety and environmental compatibility . At the completion of his term as NRC Chairman , Anders was appointed Ambassador to Norway and held that position until 1977 , when he left the federal government after 26 years . Anders briefly served as a fellow of the American Enterprise Institute , then joined General Electric in September 1977 . As vice president and general manager of GE ' s Nuclear Products Division in San Jose , California , he was responsible for the manufacture of nuclear fuel , reactor internal equipment , and control and instrumentation for GE boiling - water reactors at facilities located in San Jose and Wilmington , North Carolina . He also oversaw GE ' s partnership with Chicago Bridge and Iron for making large steel pressure vessels in Memphis , Tennessee . In August 1979 , Anders was sent to attend Harvard Business School ' s Advanced Management Program . On the first day of 1980 , Anders was appointed general manager of the GE Aircraft Equipment Division . Headquartered in Utica , New York , the division included more than 8 , 500 employees in five locations in the northeastern U . S . Its products included aircraft flight and weapon control systems , cockpit instruments , aircraft electrical generating systems , airborne radars and data processing systems , electronic countermeasures , space command systems , and aircraft / surface multi - barrel armament systems . In 1984 , he left GE to join Textron as executive vice president for aerospace , and two years later became senior executive vice president for operations . In 1990 , Anders became vice chairman of General Dynamics , and on January 1 , 1991 , its chairman and CEO . He retired in 1993 but remained chairman until May 1994 . He was also a consultant to the U . S . Office of Science and Technology Policy , and was a member of the Defense Science Board and the NASA Advisory Council . He is a retired Major General in the USAF Reserve . He established the William A . Anders Foundation , a philanthropic organization dedicated to supporting educational and environmental issues . The foundation was a primary sponsor of the American Experience episode , " Race to the Moon . " The foundation also founded the Heritage Flight Museum in 1996 at Bellingham International Airport in Bellingham , Washington ; Anders serves as its president and until 2008 was an active participant in its air shows . The Anders crater on the Moon is named in his honor . Anders was portrayed by Robert John Burke in the 1998 miniseries " From the Earth to the Moon " . A family - approved account of Anders ' life and career appears in the 2007 book " In the Shadow of the Moon . " On November 13 , 2008 , Anders and fellow Apollo 8 crew members Frank Borman and Jim Lovell appeared on the NASA TV channel to discuss the Apollo 8 mission . On June 27 , 2009 , Anders was a guest of the first World Moon Bounce Day . His interview was bounced off the Moon by radio signals and back to Earth as part of the activities . The first World Moon Bounce Day was timed to precede the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 . In popular culture . A recording of Bill Anders , made during the Apollo 8 lunar orbit , on December 24 , 1968 , reading from the Bible ( " Genesis " , Chapter 1 ) is included on the first track ( " In The Beginning " ) of the Mike Oldfield album " The Songs of Distant Earth " , with verses repeated again in the second track ( " Let There Be Light " ) .