Jim Lovell: The Commander Of NASA's Apollo 13 Mission Who Died At 97

American astronaut Captain Jim Lovell has died at the age of 97. He was known for leading the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission that became a story of ingenuity and survival.

Lovell's leadership during the 1970 Apollo 13 mission, later shown in Ron Howard's 1995 film Apollo 13 starring Tom Hanks, helped turn a near disaster into one of space exploration's greatest rescue stories.

Four flights into space

Lovell's NASA career spanned four missions. His first was Gemini 7 in 1965, a two-week endurance flight that achieved the first-ever rendezvous of two manned spacecraft. In 1966, he commanded Gemini 12 alongside Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, bringing the Gemini programme to a successful conclusion.

In December 1968, Lovell flew as command module pilot on Apollo 8, the first mission to orbit the Moon. He and crewmates Frank Borman and William Anders became the first humans to leave Earth's gravitational field.

Apollo 13, his final spaceflight, denied him the chance to walk on the Moon, an opportunity he never had again. He retired from NASA and the US Navy in March 1973, after logging more than 7,000 flight hours, including over 3,500 in jet aircraft, according to NASA.

What happened during the Apollo 13 mission?

Apollo 13 was meant to be the third mission to land humans on the Moon. But on April 13, 1970, just two days after launch, an oxygen tank in the command module exploded nearly 3,20,000 km from Earth. The blast crippled the spacecraft, forcing Lovell and his crew, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise, to work closely with Mission Control in Houston to improvise life-saving solutions.

For more than three days, the astronauts endured freezing temperatures, cramped conditions, dehydration and rationed food. By converting the lunar module Aquarius into a makeshift lifeboat, they were able to conserve power and water until splashdown.

There had been drama even before launch. Days before lift-off, the crew was exposed to German measles. While Lovell and Haise were immune, command module pilot Ken Mattingly was not, prompting NASA to replace him with Swigert at the last minute.

From test pilot to business leader

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, on March 25, 1928, James Arthur Lovell Jr. lost his father at the age of five and grew up in Milwaukee. Fascinated by space as a teenager, he graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1952, later becoming a test pilot at the Naval Air Test Center in Patuxent River, Maryland. A graduate of the University of Southern California's Aviation Safety School, he also served as a safety engineer with Fighter Squadron 101 at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia.

After leaving NASA, Lovell entered the private sector, joining Bay-Houston Towing Company in 1973. He went on to become president of Fisk Telephone Systems in 1977 and later Group Vice President at Centel Corporation, retiring in 1991 as Executive Vice President and a member of its board.

Service beyond spaceflight

In June 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Lovell as his consultant for Physical Fitness and Sports. Under President Richard Nixon, the Physical Fitness Council was reorganised in 1970 and Lovell was named its chairman, a role he held until 1978 while continuing as a consultant.

Lovell co-authored the 1994 book Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13, which served as the basis for Ron Howard's film. NASA later named a crater on the Moon in his honour.