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    Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 commander, dies at age 97
    Space

    Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 commander, dies at age 97

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    31 Comments

    2. AstroEngineer314 on

      A great man, a great aviator, a great Astronaut, a great American. He will be missed.

    4. Separate_Marketing36 on

      Damn, this is a hard one. One of the greatest astronauts of all time and a big hero of mine. God speed Jim

    5. StrigiStockBacking on

      RIP to a true explorer. I have a signed copy of “Lost Moon” that I hold dear.

    8. Captain_Wisconsin on

      “There are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen, and there are people who wonder what
      happened. To be successful, you need to be a person who makes
      things happen.”

      Rest in Peace, Captain Lovell.

    12. Dave-C on

      God speed Lovell

      There isn’t a story in history that matches what those in the early days of NASA accomplished. We lost a true legendary figure.

    15. Redbaron1701 on

      I met Jim Lovell at a book signing when I was young.

      There was a Q and A session, and when it was my turn I asked:

      “Why are the lunar module walls so unthick?”

      And he smiled and responded: “do you mean thin?”

      I sat back in my chair, mortified at my mistake. I was just a kid and I was so nervous.

      It was a big auditorium though, so I thought I could just disappear. Later at the book signing, I walked up and he said “hey, you’re the unthick kid!”

      My mom remembers it fondly.

    16. RTR20241 on

      Great man. My mom made friends with him at a dinner party back in the late seventies. God speed and thank you for everything you’ve done

    17. DavidBowieBoy on

      Absolute legend, but he lived a long and epic life. Not a day to be sad, but to remember his achievements.

    18. semsr on

      Survived Apollo 13 and got to live another 55 years, but the last 15 months of which were spent with his wife Marilyn, who lived to be 93. Talk about a happy ending. RIP Jim.

    19. quesoandcats on

      Fuck, this one hurts. I got to meet him and shake his hand when I was a teenager.

      Apollo 13 was my favorite movie growing up, and I was obsessed with space. Did space camp, went to every museum I could, built model rockets with my dad, all that stuff.

      My graduation/18th birthday gift was to eat at Lovell’s, the restaurant he used to own. It was covered in space memorabilia, and he and his wife went around to each table and thanked everyone for dining with them. He saw my grad gifts and congratulated me, and offered to pose for a picture while we chatted a bit about him being a personal hero of mine.

      He was one of the kindest, most genuine people I’ve ever met, and I’ll always be grateful he took the time to let me fangirl over him for a few minutes.

    21. sbw_62 on

      How sad. I met him once at a restaurant north of Chicago. Very nice man, and a true hero.

    22. Barnyard_Rich on

      What a legend, and I feel the need to point out how important the film Apollo 13 was to people who grew up in the 90s dreaming of space. Along with the more flawed (and fictional) Contact, we got some great material that made space a tangible goal.

      Thanks for being willing to risk it all for the advancement of our knowledge as a species, Mr. Lovell.

      Side note: He appeared in The Man Who Fell to Earth, which is a fascinating movie starring David Bowie.

    23. Morganbanefort on

      From now on we live in a world where man has walked on the Moon. It’s not a miracle; we just decided to go.”

      -Jim Lovell

      Chills

      Rip sir

    24. Dustmopper on

      Of the 24 men who went to the moon, only 5 are still alive

      Walked: 4/12, Didn’t Land: 1/12

    25. Akula_SSN on

      One of the greatest human beings. Kind, intelligent, humble, and highly talented. World is a bit dimmer today.

    26. Skulldetta on

      With that, all three crew members of Apollo 8 – the first manned spaceflight to reach the Moon – have died. And they all lived to see their 90th birthday.

      Rest in Peace Frank Borman (1928-2023), William Anders (1933-2024), Jim Lovell (1928-2025).

    27. OptimusSublime on

      This is devastating. This man was one of the driving factors why I got into aerospace.

    28. Furbal1307 on

      [Jim has a lot of history in Wisconsin](https://shepherdexpress.com/culture/milwaukee-history/juneau-high-grad-james-lovell-went-to-the-moon-almost/). He lived in Milwaukee and attended UW-Madison.

      I met Jim on one of his visits to a museum in the early 1990s. It was a luncheon where we could ask him one question each. Only me and 2 other students were allowed to attend. I asked him how it felt to be in space. He said it was fun until it wasn’t.

      I’ll never forget that, sir!

    29. printergumlight on

      This is crazy timing. I just listened to a 5 part series on Apollo 13 and then yesterday I googled if Jim Lovell was still alive. I was surprised to find out he still was. One day later…

      RIP to a legend.

    31. Measure76 on

      We did all that work to save him and he just dies anyway smh.

      Seriously though, it’s too bad we don’t even try to go to the moon anymore. RIP.