James ‘Jim’ Lovell
A space veteran who completed four impressive missions, including the ill-fated Apollo 13
A retired NASA astronaut who flew on Gemini and Apollo missions, Lovell is most famous for his role as commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13. At the time of the mission, Lovell had spent more time in space than anyone in the world, and in total logged over 700 hours in space.
Lovell was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in March 1928. He developed an interest in rocket science as a high school student and went on to study engineering at the University of Wisconsin. Lovell then attended the United States Naval Academy, where he graduated with a bachelor of science degree in 1952.
In 1958, Lovell graduated from the Navy’s test pilot school, spending the next several years testing fighter aircraft and other jets. The Navy’s test pilots were among the best aviators in the country, and as such were prime candidates for NASA’s astronaut program in the early 1960s.
Lovell was selected as a potential astronaut candidate for Project Mercury, but was turned down because of a temporary excess of a protein called bilirubin in his blood, which could have been indicative of a liver problem. But he got a second chance when NASA began recruiting astronauts for the Gemini and Apollo programs. Lovell was selected in 1962.
Lovell served as a backup pilot for Gemini 4 before being assigned as one of two crew members on Gemini 7, which launched on 4 December 1965. The Gemini 7 flight was an endurance mission in every sense of the word. Lovell and Frank Borman spent more than 330 hours (nearly two weeks) in a spacecraft about the size of a coat closet. The men carried out nearly 20 experiments and operated without their spacesuits on for the first time. They also successfully rendezvoused with Gemini 6A on 15 December 1965; the two spacecraft moved around in close proximity for a little over five hours. After 206 orbits around Earth, Gemini 7 returned home on 18 December 1965.
Lovell’s next trip to space was as commander of Gemini 12, the last flight of Project Gemini. He was accompanied by astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who completed three extravehicular activity operations during the mission.
The next step for Lovell was the Moon.
Apollo 8 launched on 21 December 1968 with Borman as the commander, William Anders as the Lunar Module pilot and Lovell as the Command Module pilot. The trio successfully completed their trip around the Moon, marking the first time any human had journeyed so far from Earth and witnessed the far side of the Moon. The crew made six telecast appearances during their trip. Millions of people watched the astronauts deliver a Christmas address from space, in which they read passages from the Bible and described the view of space and Earth unfurling beneath them. Apollo 8 returned to Earth on 27 December 1968.
Lovell’s last mission was as commander of Apollo 13 in April 1970. He was joined by Lunar Module pilot Fred Haise and Command Module pilot Jack Swigert. Apollo 13 was the third targeted Moon landing. All appeared normal until the evening of 13 April, when the astronauts were just a day away from landing on the Moon. A stray spark ignited an oxygen tank within the Command Module, heavily damaging the spacecraft. The three men huddled in the undamaged Lunar Module – a spacecraft designed for two men to land on the Moon – for most of the next four days. To save energy, only the most essential systems were kept powered up. With the help of Mission Control, they arrived safely back on Earth on 17 April 1970.
Lovell retired from NASA and the Navy in 1973. He has received many awards and honours, including the Collier, Harmon and Goddard trophies, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, NASA Distinguished Service Medal and most recently the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.