Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell, Hero of Space Crisis, Dies at 97

Jim Lovell, a former NASA astronaut who commanded the harrowing Apollo 13 mission that became an enduring story of courage, ingenuity and survival after he helped pilot the stricken lunar spacecraft safely back to Earth in 1970, passed away at age 97. NASA Lovell in an undated photo from 1968 -- NASA astronaut James A. Lovell passed away on Thursday (Augist 7) at the age of 94, the space agency confirmed today. Through his four most celebrated spaceflights of a career long enough to help define the American space programme and carry its resonance forward. One of the most famous moments in manned spaceflight history is his management of Apollo 13, during which an oxygen tank explosion threatened the crew's lives.

Jim Lovell: Apollo 13 Hero and Pioneer of NASA's Golden Age

According to NASA officials, it was Lovell's calm demeanour and his impressive capability that helped bring an ill-fated Apollo 13 back home. Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy mentioned in a statement on the website, "His grace and true grit helped our nation put humans on the moon and turned potential tragedy into a triumph from which we will always learn." Lovell was part of NASA's second class of astronauts in 1962 – a group that included Neil Armstrong and Ed White – and flew Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 and Apollo 13.

Firsts were a hallmark of Lovell's career -- the first-ever spacecraft rendezvous as well as Apollo 8, the first crewed flight to circle around the moon. His most memorable mission was Apollo 13, the near-fatal return to the earth with precious resources which had been saved for that long haul rather than be used in lunar exploration after an explosion forced cancellation of the moon landing.

That fateful episode was immortalised with the popular line, “Houston, we have a problem”, as Lovell recounts in his 1994 book Lost Moon (with Kluger) and its 1995 Oscar-winning movie Apollo 13, though Swigert actually stated, “Houston, we've had a problem”.

James Arthur Lovell Jr. (born 1928) retired as a test pilot and NASA employee in 1973. When Lovell died, Buzz Aldrin became the oldest surviving Apollo astronaut of the five remaining today out of 24.