Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell dies at 97
He was commander of the legendary “Apollo 13″ moon mission: Astronaut Jim Lovell died on Thursday at the age of 97, the US space agency NASA announced on Friday .
"NASA extends its condolences to the family of Captain Jim Lovell, whose life and work have inspired millions of people for decades," the statement read. "Jim's character and unwavering courage helped our nation reach the moon and transform a potential tragedy into a success from which we learned enormously. We mourn his passing while celebrating his accomplishments."
Lovell participated in a total of four space flights: Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8, and Apollo 13. In 1968, he orbited the moon with his colleagues Frank Borman and William Anders on Apollo 8. Although they did not land, the team positioned the United States ahead of the Soviet Union in the race for space exploration and captured the first image of Earth from space.
Lovell became internationally famous, however, primarily as the commander of the Apollo 13 mission in 1970, which almost ended in tragedy: Lovell was supposed to be the fifth person in history to walk on the moon, but an explosion in an oxygen tank in the space capsule put the crew, which also included Fred Haise and Jack Swigert, in acute danger. "Houston, we have a problem," the crew reported to the control center in Houston. After a fight for survival in space, Lovell and his colleagues managed to return to Earth in the lunar module.
Ron Howard filmed the dramatic rescue in 1995 in the successful Hollywood movie “Apollo 13,” with Tom Hanks playing Jim Lovell in the box office hit.
"I want most people to remember that in some ways it was a great success," Lovell said in a 1994 interview. "Not that we accomplished anything, but it was a success because we demonstrated the capabilities of NASA personnel."
Having cheated death had an impact on him, Lovell told a NASA historian in 1999. "Crises don't bother me anymore," he explained. Whenever he has a problem, he tells himself that he could have died back in 1970. "I'm still here. I'm still breathing."
Until the mid-1970s, Lovell held the record for the longest stay in space: 715 hours, four minutes and 57 seconds.
RND/seb/AP
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