Famous NASA astronaut Jim Lovell, who commanded the tragic Apollo 13 mission in 1970, forced to abandon attempts to land the moon, has been killed. He was 97 years old.
According to a NASA news release, Lovell passed away on August 7th in Lake Forest, Illinois. The cause of death was not immediately clear.
Lovell’s family requested privacy, but said, “It is sad to announce the death of our beloved father, USN Captain James A. ‘Jim’ Lovell, a naval pilot and officer, astronaut, leader and Space Explorer.”
“We are extremely proud of the achievements of his incredible life and career, highlighted by his legendary leadership, a pioneering human spaceflight,” the family said in a statement. “But for all of us, he was a dad, grandfather and leader of our family. Most importantly, he was our hero. We miss his unwavering optimism, his sense of humor, and the way each of us made us feel that we could do impossible. He was really kind.”
Lovell is already famous among NASA astronauts and was chosen to fly into space with Gemini 7, Gemini 12 and Apollo 8 missions and command Apollo 13.
However, during an unfortunate mission carrying Lovell and astronauts John Swigert Jr. and Fred Haise Jr., the oxygen tank in the crew’s service module exploded when it was about 200,000 miles from Earth.
Lovell delivered the news to Mission Control and said, “Houston, there’s a problem.”
As the damage effectively removed the crew’s power and other life support supplies, the crew of the Apollo 13 had to suddenly abandon the trek to the surface of the moon and use some engine burns to rock the other side of the moon and return to the course towards Earth.
The three crew made a high-scoring splashdown return in the South Pacific about three days after the tank explosion, marking the conclusion of what became known as the “successful and failed” of the Apollo mission.
This ordeal was fictional in Ron Howard’s 1995 film Apollo 13.
In a statement released Friday, NASA administrator Sean Duffy believed that Lovell’s “moderate strength under pressure (it) has helped its crew safely back to Earth, demonstrating quick thinking and innovation that informs future NASA missions.”
Lovell was the first astronaut to do four astronauts. And after first serving in Apollo 8, he joined the crew of Apollo 13. Apollo 8 deliberately patrolled the moon, but did not land on its surface.
In an interview with 90-year-old CNN in 2018, Lovell recalled his adventures as a navigator for Apollo 8. “For me, it was Minlewis and Clark’s expedition,” Label said. “We went somewhere new to see the other side of the moon.
At one point, Lovell stretched his arm towards the spaceship window. The earth was so small he could cover it with his thumb.
“I realized that behind my thumb there were about 3.5 billion people (3.5 billion people), everyone I knew,” Lovell said in a 2018 interview. “I suddenly felt a different feeling about my general life and my position within it.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
