Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 Commander, dies at age 97: How NASA’s legendary US astronaut led his crew through one of space’s greatest rescues |

James A. Lovell Jr., the famed astronaut and commander of NASA’s Apollo 13 mission, has died at 97. Lovell handed away on August 8, 2025, in Lake Forest, Illinois, his household confirmed in an announcement to NASA. Though Lovell by no means walked on the Moon, his management throughout Apollo 13’s near-disastrous oxygen tank explosion turned the mission into one of house exploration’s greatest rescue tales. His calm, fast pondering below intense stress saved the lives of his crew and impressed tens of millions worldwide. Lovell’s heroism was immortalized within the 1995 movie Apollo 13, the place Tom Hanks portrayed him. Beyond his house legacy, Lovell stays a logo of resilience and braveness, admired by generations of astronauts and house fans alike.

Jim Lovell’s formative years and path to NASA

Born March 25, 1928, in Cleveland, Ohio, James Arthur Lovell Jr. misplaced his father at a younger age and was raised in Milwaukee by his mom. Fascinated by rocketry as a teen, he even constructed a selfmade gunpowder rocket—a ardour that ultimately formed his profession.After attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison for 2 years, Lovell entered the US Naval Academy, graduating in 1952. He went on to grow to be a Navy take a look at pilot earlier than being chosen in 1962 as half of NASA’s second group of astronauts, destined for the Gemini and Apollo packages.

Jim Lovell record-breaking house profession earlier than Apollo 13

Before Apollo 13, Lovell already held the file for many hours in house amongst astronauts of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo eras—logging over 715 hours.

By the time Apollo 13 launched, Lovell was one of NASA’s most skilled astronauts.

Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 mission journey

Apollo 13 spacecraft broken: The oxygen tank blast that modified NASA historical past

Apollo 13 lifted off on April 11, 1970 with Lovell as commander, Fred W. Haise Jr. as lunar module pilot, and John L. “Jack” Swigert Jr. as command module pilot. The plan was for Lovell and Haise to land within the Fra Mauro highlands whereas Swigert orbited above.But 56 hours into the mission, roughly 200,000 miles from Earth, catastrophe struck. An oxygen tank within the service module exploded after a broken wire ignited throughout a routine stir. The blast crippled the spacecraft—knocking out energy, oxygen, and water provides. It was then that the phrase—misquoted in fashionable tradition as “Houston, we have a problem”—entered the American lexicon. In actuality, Swigert first radioed, “Houston, we’ve had a problem,” with Lovell repeating it shortly afterward.

Apollo 13 disaster administration: How the lunar module saved the crew

With the primary command module crippled, the astronauts and NASA engineers devised an audacious survival plan—use the lunar module (LM) as a lifeboat. Designed for less than two astronauts for 2 days, the LM now needed to maintain three astronauts for 4 days.To preserve sources, they:

An instant return to Earth was too dangerous, so Apollo 13 looped across the Moon for a slingshot trajectory house. Lovell manually guided essential rocket burns utilizing Earth’s place through the spacecraft window as a navigation level.

Apollo 13’s secure return: From ocean rescue to Presidential honour

On April 17, 1970, after one of essentially the most tense survival tales in trendy historical past, Apollo 13 splashed down safely within the Pacific Ocean, 610 miles southeast of American Samoa. Three orange-and-white parachutes signaled the top of the disaster. President Richard Nixon awarded Lovell, Haise, and Swigert the Presidential Medal of Freedom, calling the mission “a successful failure”—failed in its lunar touchdown however victorious in its secure return.Lovell co-authored the 1994 ebook Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 with Jeffrey Kluger, which turned the idea for Ron Howard’s hit movie Apollo 13. In the film, Tom Hanks performed Lovell, immortalizing his calm management for a brand new technology.Lovell even made a cameo because the captain of the USS Iwo Jima, the restoration ship that retrieved the Apollo 13 crew.

James Lovell’s life After NASA: Leadership, household, and lasting honours

Lovell retired from NASA and the Navy in 1973, happening to guide the Bay-Houston Towing Company and maintain senior roles in telecommunications. He additionally ran Lovell Communications, a Chicago-based consulting agency. His household operated a Lake Forest restaurant adorned with house memorabilia till it closed in 2015. Lovell is survived by his 4 kids—James III (Jay), Jeffrey, Barbara, and Susan—11 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren. His spouse of greater than 60 years, Marilyn Lovell, died in 2023.In addition to the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Lovell was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor by President Bill Clinton in 1995. In later years, Lovell typically mirrored that whereas lacking the Moon was a disappointment, Apollo 13’s rescue was a higher triumph.“It was a triumph in a different direction—getting people back from a certain catastrophe,” he stated.Also Read | NASA Hubble Space Telescope captures picture of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS dashing at 130,000 mph