Another true American Hero has passed on. Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 astronaut mission commander, dies at age 97 | Fox News
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I saw that. What a great man - RIP
Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 and 13. Vaya con dios!
RIP James Lovell
NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
So very sad. I remember the nights of the Lunar landings as well as disaster/success story of Apollo 13 back in the day. I say nights because at that time I lived in Switzerland and we only saw the broadcasts late in the evenings and at night. It was such a great era, and despite of the tragic Vietnam war, the space race gave us hope for a better world still to come.
Poor Jim, who had already flown in the Gemini program and on the famous Apollo 8 circumnavigation of our satellite, had so much high hopes to one day land and walk on the Moon and his dream vanished suddenly due to an explosion in the Service Module which could have been easily avoided if someone had paid more attention. Nevertheless, he and his crew, as well as Gene Krantz and the Control team on Earth managed the impossible to bring Apollo 13 beck to Earth safely. A true successful mission which opened the eyes of some engineers at NASA and proved that with some ingenious solutions one could still survive in space. I also remember his numerous appearances in documentaries about the times of Apollo and Gemini, as well as in interviews he often and generously gave to journalists. He will certainly be missed but he will also be celebrated as one of the true pioneers who opened space exploration and research to future generations, just like Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, “Gus” Grissom, Ed White, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, Frank Borman, James McDivitt, Thomas Stafford, John Young, Pete Conrad, David Scott, Eugene Cernan, Richard Gordon, Roger Chaffee, Donn Eisele, Walter Cunningham, William Anders, James Irwin, Donn Eisele, Walter Cunningham, Joe Engle and Alan Bean.
May they all rest in peace and be honored for the great accomplishments they managed to bring forth for all mankind.