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CHICAGO -- James Lovell, the commandant of Apollo 13 who helped crook a failed satellite ngo into a triumph of on-the-fly can-do engineering, has died. He was 97.
Lovell died Thursday successful Lake Forest, Illinois, NASA said successful a connection connected Friday.
"Jim's quality and steadfast courageousness helped our federation scope the Moon and turned a imaginable calamity into a occurrence from which we learned an tremendous amount," NASA said. "We mourn his passing adjacent arsenic we observe his achievements."
One of NASA's astir traveled astronauts successful the agency's archetypal decade, Lovell flew 4 times - Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 and Apollo 13 - with the 2 Apollo flights riveting the folks backmost connected Earth.
In 1968, the Apollo 8 unit of Lovell, Frank Borman and William Anders was the archetypal to permission Earth's orbit and the archetypal to alert to and ellipse the moon. They could not land, but they enactment the U.S. up of the Soviets successful the abstraction race. Letter writers told the unit that their stunning airy bluish dot photograph of Earth from the moon, a satellite first, and the crew's Christmas Eve speechmaking from Genesis saved America from a tumultuous 1968.
The Apollo 13 ngo had a lifelong interaction connected Lovell
But the large rescue ngo was inactive to come. That was during the harrowing Apollo 13 formation successful April 1970. Lovell was expected to beryllium the 5th antheral to locomotion connected the moon. But Apollo 13's work module, carrying Lovell and 2 others, experienced a abrupt oxygen vessel detonation connected its mode to the moon. The astronauts hardly survived, spending 4 acold and clammy days successful the cramped lunar module arsenic a lifeboat.
''The happening that I privation astir radical to retrieve is (that) successful immoderate consciousness it was precise overmuch of a success,'' Lovell said during a 1994 interview. ''Not that we accomplished anything, but a occurrence successful that we demonstrated the capableness of (NASA) personnel.''
A retired Navy skipper known for his calm demeanor, Lovell told a NASA historiographer that his brushwood with decease did impact him.
"I don't interest astir crises immoderate longer," helium said successful 1999. Whenever helium has a problem, "I say, 'I could person been gone backmost successful 1970. I'm inactive here. I'm inactive breathing.' So, I don't interest astir crises."
And the mission's retelling successful the fashionable 1995 movie "Apollo 13" brought Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert renewed fame - acknowledgment successful portion to Lovell's movie persona reporting "Houston, we person a problem," a operation helium didn't precisely utter.
Lovell had crystal h2o successful his veins similar different astronauts, but helium didn't show the swagger immoderate had, conscionable quiescent confidence, said Smithsonian Institution historiographer Roger Launius. He called Lovell "a precise personable, precise down-to-earth benignant of person, who says 'This is what I do. Yes, there's hazard involved. I measurement risk.'"
Lovell spent a full of astir 30 days successful space
In all, Lovell flew 4 abstraction missions - and until the Skylab flights of the mid-1970s, helium held the satellite grounds for the longest clip successful abstraction with 715 hours, 4 minutes and 57 seconds.
Aboard Apollo 8, Lovell described the oceans and onshore masses of Earth. "What I support imagining, is if I americium immoderate lonely traveler from different planet, what I would deliberation astir the Earth astatine this altitude, whether I deliberation it would beryllium inhabited oregon not," helium remarked.
That ngo whitethorn beryllium arsenic important arsenic the historical Apollo 11 satellite landing, a formation made imaginable by Apollo 8, Launius said.
"I deliberation successful the past of abstraction flight, I would accidental that Jim was 1 of the pillars of the aboriginal abstraction formation program," Gene Kranz, NASA's legendary formation director, erstwhile said.
Lovell was immortalized by Tom Hanks' portrayal
But if historians see Apollo 8 and Apollo 11 the astir important of the Apollo missions, it was during Lovell's past ngo - immortalized by the fashionable movie starring Tom Hanks arsenic Lovell - that helium came to embody for the nationalist the representation of the cool, decisive astronaut.
The Apollo 13 unit of Lovell, Haise and Swigert was connected the mode to the satellite successful April 1970, erstwhile an oxygen vessel from the spaceship exploded 200,000 miles from Earth.
That, Lovell recalled, was "the astir frightening infinitesimal successful this full thing." Then oxygen began escaping and "we didn't person solutions to get home."
"We knew we were successful deep, heavy trouble," helium told NASA's historian.
Four-fifths of the mode to the moon, NASA scrapped the mission. Suddenly, their lone extremity was to survive.
Lovell's "Houston, we've had a problem," a saltation of a remark Swigert had radioed moments before, became famous. In Hanks' version, it became "Houston, we person a problem."
What unfolded implicit the adjacent 4 days captured the imaginativeness of the federation and the world, which until past had mostly been indifferent astir what seemed a regular mission.
With Lovell commanding the spacecraft, Kranz led hundreds of formation controllers and engineers successful a furious rescue plan.
The program progressive the astronauts moving from the work module, which was hemorrhaging oxygen, into the cramped, acheronian and frigid lunar lander portion they rationed their dwindling oxygen, h2o and electricity. Using the lunar module arsenic a lifeboat, they swung astir the moon, aimed for Earth and raced home.
By coolly solving the problems nether the astir aggravated unit imaginable, the astronauts and the unit connected the crushed became heroes. In the process of turning what seemed regular into a life-and-death struggle, the full formation squad had created 1 of NASA's finest moments that ranks with Neil Armstrong's and Buzz Aldrin's walks connected the satellite 9 months earlier.
"They demonstrated to the satellite they could grip genuinely horrific problems and bring them backmost alive," said Launius.
The nonaccomplishment of the accidental to locomotion connected the satellite "is my 1 regret," Lovell said successful a 1995 interrogation with The Associated Press for a communicative connected the 25th day of the mission.
President Bill Clinton agreed erstwhile helium awarded Lovell the Congressional Space Medal of Honor successful 1995. "While you whitethorn person mislaid the satellite ... you gained thing that is acold much important perhaps: the abiding respect and gratitude of the American people," helium said.
Lovell erstwhile said that portion helium was disappointed helium ne'er walked connected the moon, "The ngo itself and the information that we triumphed implicit definite catastrophe does springiness maine a heavy consciousness of satisfaction."
And Lovell intelligibly understood wherefore this failed ngo afforded him acold much fame than had Apollo 13 accomplished its goal.
"Going to the moon, if everything works right, it's similar pursuing a cookbook. It's not that large a deal," helium told the AP successful 2004. "If thing goes wrong, that's what separates the men from the boys."
James A. Lovell was calved March 25, 1928, successful Cleveland. He attended the University of Wisconsin earlier transferring to the U.S. Naval Academy, successful Annapolis, Maryland. On the time helium graduated successful 1952, helium and his wife, Marilyn, were married.
A trial aviator astatine the Navy Test Center successful Patuxent River, Maryland, Lovell was selected arsenic an astronaut by NASA successful 1962.
Lovell retired from the Navy and from the abstraction programme successful 1973, and went into backstage business. In 1994, helium and Jeff Kluger wrote "Lost Moon," the communicative of the Apollo 13 ngo and the ground for the movie "Apollo 13." In 1 of the last scenes, Lovell appeared arsenic a Navy captain, the fertile helium really had.
He and his household ran a now-closed edifice successful suburban Chicago, Lovell's of Lake Forest.
His wife, Marilynn, died successful 2023. Survivors see 4 children.
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AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein contributed to this report.
The video successful the subordinate supra is from a erstwhile report.
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