There is no sign at the Museum to indicate the artist or date. The bust is part of a display to commemorate astronaut William Anders. A sign indicates that Anders was a crew member on the Apollo 8 mission with Frank Borman and Jim Lovell.
The life-sized bronze bust depicts Anders as a young man... and apparently wearing his astronaut uniform since the viewer can see the metal collar that his helmet would attack to.
Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us:
"William Alison "Bill" Anders (born October 17, 1933), (Maj Gen, USAFR, Ret.), is a former United States Air Force officer, nuclear engineer, 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)...
Air Force service and NASA career
After graduating from the U.S. 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.
He has logged more than 6,000 hours of flight time.[citation needed]
Spaceflight experience
Main article: Apollo 8
Anders, left, with fellow Apollo 8 crewmates Jim Lovell and Frank Borman
"We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth."
"Earthrise", taken by Anders on 24 December 1968
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. Then in December 1968, he flew as Lunar Module Pilot for the Apollo 8 mission, the first mission where humans traveled beyond Low Earth orbit (also the first to reach the Moon, and first to orbit the Moon). 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."