James A. Lovell

Born: March 25, 1928, Cleveland

NASA experience: Lovell was selected as an astronaut by NASA in September 1962. He served as backup pilot for the Gemini 4 flight and backup commander for the Gemini 9 flight, as well as backup commander to Neil Armstrong for the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. On Dec. 4, 1965, he and Frank Borman were launched into space on the history-making Gemini 7 mission. The flight lasted 330 hours, 35 minutes and included the first rendezvous of two manned maneuverable spacecraft. The Gemini 12 mission, commanded by Lovell with pilot Edwin Aldrin, began Nov. 11, 1966. This four-day, 59-revolution flight brought the Gemini program to a successful close. Lovell served as command module pilot and navigator on the epic six-day journey of Apollo 8, man’s maiden voyage to the moon, Dec. 21-27, 1968. Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft to be lifted into near-Earth orbit by a 7 1/2 million pound thrust Saturn V launch vehicle; and Lovell and fellow crewmen Frank Borman and William A. Anders became the first humans to leave the Earth’s gravitational influence. He completed his fourth mission as spacecraft commander of the Apollo 13 flight, April 11-17, 1970, and became the first man to journey twice to the moon. Lovell held the record for time in space with a total of 715 hours, 5 minutes until surpassed by the Skylab flights.

Military experience: During his Naval career he has had numerous aviator assignments, including a 4-year tour as a test pilot at the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Maryland. While there he served as Program Manager for the F4H “Phantom” Fighter. A graduate of the Aviation Safety School of the University of Southern California, he also served as Safety Engineer with the Fighter Squadron 101 at the Naval Air Station, Oceana, Virginia. He has logged more than 7,000 hours flying time —more than 3,500 hours in jet aircraft.