Jim Lovell, the Apollo 13 commander who guided his crew back to Earth after a spacecraft explosion in 1970, has died at 97.
NASA described his leadership during the crisis as turning a near disaster into a safe return.
Lovell was the first person to travel to the Moon twice without landing.
He was also part of Apollo 8, the first mission to orbit the Moon, where the crew captured the famous “Earthrise” photograph during Christmas 1968.
Born in 1928 in Cleveland, Ohio, Lovell grew up fascinated by flight. He trained as a US Navy pilot before joining NASA in 1962 as part of its “New Nine” astronaut group.
He flew in Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8, and Apollo 13.
Apollo 13 became one of spaceflight’s most dramatic events when an oxygen tank explosion forced the crew to use the lunar module as a lifeboat.
After four days in freezing conditions with limited supplies, the astronauts splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean.
Lovell retired from the Navy in 1973 and later co-wrote a memoir that inspired the 1995 film Apollo 13.
He remained active in public speaking and community work for decades. His wife Marilyn, whom he married in 1952, died in 2023.