In the movie "Apollo 13", when the astronauts board the Navy ship after being recovered at sea, Lovell, played by Tom Hanks, is greeted by and shakes the hand of the captain of the ship. The captain was played by Jim Lovell.
He came to speak at a small awards ceremony at my university. He came into the room and said "sorry, I know you were all expecting Tom Hanks!"
Really seemed like a great guy, shame to hear about his passing.
I don't get that emotional when watching movies. I cried a little when the parachutes opened in Apollo 13.
As a kid I had a book detailing hundreds of space missions—mostly probes, obviously—but my favorite mission to read about was Apollo 13. Just incredible.
Maybe when Jim got to heaven, the first place the angels took him to was where he would have landed on the moon.
I was lucky enough to have met and spent some time with Jim Lovell. An absolute gentleman, and it was a joy to have been in his company.
Ad Astra ...
For an astronaut, it has to be a triumph to die of old age or natural causes. Doubly so for the crew of Apollo 13.
I highly recommend his book with Jeffrey Kluger, “Apollo 13”, originally published as “Lost Moon” in 1994.
RIP to one of the greats.
The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation wrote up a great tribute: https://www.astronautscholarship.org/assets/2025-asf-lovell-...
I know some of the space race stuff was driven by cold war politics, but I think it was still pretty cool. Big, difficult goals can be inspiring.
I attended his high school. The foyer had a panoramic display of the Apollo 13 story. He spoke at our 1982 graduation.
I met Captain Lovell at his restaurant in Illinois around 2003 or so. He was a happy man, friendly greetings for all his guests.
Houston, I have a problem with my eyes.
As a member of Apollo 13, he flew farther from Earth than any other human being ever has.
He was literally closer to God and the Heavens than anyone else before or since.
RIP and ad astra to a great American
There should be a national day of mourning.
There won't be, but there should be.
Godspeed.
"We" [0] need to get back up there before they're all gone.
[0] I say "We" but I'm not American...
What is really amazing is that three astronauts flew to the Moon TWICE! Unfortunately Jim Lovell was unlucky and only orbited because after Apollo 8, 13 didn't make it, as we know. John Young and Gene Cernan orbited, and landed.
An utter shame that he never got a chance to actually touch down on the moon. IMO, he, and everyone involved with Apollo 13 after it left the ground, truly represent the peak of NASA personnel. Listening to the calm, cool manner in which Jim and everyone else conducted themselves with while their spacecraft was literally falling apart around them give me chills.
Godspeed sir
The movie was released 25 years after the incident. It has been 30 years since the movie was released.
Lovell, as Pilot, flew with Frank Borman as Command Pilot on Gemini 7. They spent two very unpleasant weeks in space.[1]
Borman commanded Apollo 8, the first manned flight to the moon, again with Lovell. However, Lovell had by then commanded Gemini 12. So the odd situation resulted in which the person with more spaceflight experience was not commander.[2]
Lovell has another distinction besides the whole "survived almost certain death in space on Apollo 13" thing: He is the only one of the three Apollo 8 crewmen to have not become a Fortune 500 CEO. (Frank Borman ran Eastern Airlines, and Bill Anders ran General Dynamics.)
[1] TIL that NASA's Gemini 7 space mission lasted for 14 days. After rendezvousing with Gemini 6 on the 11th day, the two astronauts had nothing to do other than read books in the very cramped cockpit. Frank Borman, the commander, said that the last three days were "bad".<https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1ccpszs/til_...>
[2] This has happened a few more times, including the current Crew-11 to ISS, in which a rookie is commander while the other three have all flown in space before
hasn't even reached the top of Google News. The world is completely consumed in its own mess.
Godspeed, Captain Lovell. o7
"Houston, we have a problem" RIP Jim Lovell.
Probably one of the more famous astronauts in pop culture given the movie Apollo 13. As someone who grew up near NASA that is one of my favorite films.
I recommend "A Man on the Moon" for anyone interested in that era.
Rest in Peace! Time to read up on him again.
I'd fly anywhere with Jim Lovell.
A true inspiration
He survived the Apollo 13 mission, only to die anyway.
Trivia: Jim Lovell is the only person to fly to the moon twice without landing on it (scheduled "test flight" on Apollo 8, unscheduled emergency on Apollo 13).
12 people flew to the moon without landing on it, now only 1 is still alive (Fred Haise).
12 people walked on the moon, 4 are still alive (Buzz Aldrin, David Scott, Charles Duke, Harrison Schmitt).
(Conclusion: walking on the moon is healthy?)