Jim Lovell, the Apollo 13 commander whose calm leadership helped avert disaster on one of NASA’s most perilous missions, died Thursday in Illinois. He was 97.
A veteran of four spaceflights — Gemini VII, Gemini XII, Apollo 8, and Apollo 13 — Lovell was among NASA’s “Next Nine” astronauts selected in 1962, a group that also included Neil Armstrong and John Young.
Lovell first gained recognition during Gemini missions that tested long-duration spaceflight and critical rendezvous techniques. In 1968, he circled the moon on Apollo 8, the first crewed lunar orbit mission. But his final flight, Apollo 13 in April 1970, brought him lasting fame.
Fifty-five hours into the mission, an oxygen tank exploded, crippling the spacecraft as Lovell and crewmates Jack Swigert and Fred Haise were nearly 200,000 miles from Earth. With dwindling power, water shortages, and rising carbon dioxide levels, NASA engineers and the crew improvised solutions to bring the astronauts safely home. The mission was hailed as a “successful failure,” proving the ingenuity and resilience of the space program.
Lovell’s story reached new generations when Tom Hanks portrayed him in the 1995 film Apollo 13.
Born in Cleveland in 1928, Lovell graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1952 and logged more than 7,000 flight hours. He spent 715 hours in space before retiring from NASA in 1973.
NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy called Lovell’s courage “an inspiration to millions.”
Source: NBC