Jim Lovell, Heroic Commander of Apollo 13, Dies at 97
Lake Forest, August 8, 2025 – NASA astronaut James “Jim” Lovell Jr., renowned for his calm leadership during the harrowing Apollo 13 mission, passed away on Thursday, August 7, 2025, at his home in Lake Forest, Illinois, at the age of 97. NASA confirmed his death, with Acting Administrator Sean Duffy stating, “Jim’s character and steadfast courage helped our nation reach the Moon and turned a potential tragedy into a success from which we learned an enormous amount.”
Lovell, a retired Navy captain, commanded Apollo 13 in April 1970, a mission intended to land on the Moon but aborted after an oxygen tank explosion 200,000 miles from Earth crippled the spacecraft. His now-iconic phrase, “Houston, we’ve had a problem,” signaled the crisis that threatened the lives of Lovell and his crewmates, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise. Through ingenuity and teamwork with NASA’s ground crew, Lovell led the mission to safety, using the lunar module as a lifeboat to loop around the Moon and return home on April 17, 1970. The mission, dubbed a “successful failure,” became one of NASA’s proudest moments, immortalized in the 1995 film Apollo 13, with Tom Hanks portraying Lovell.
Born March 25, 1928, in Cleveland, Ohio, Lovell graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1952 and became a test pilot before joining NASA in 1962. He flew four space missions: Gemini 7 (1965), Gemini 12 (1966), Apollo 8 (1968)—the first human mission to orbit the Moon—and Apollo 13. He was the first person to fly to the Moon twice, logging over 715 hours in space, a record at the time. His Apollo 8 experience, where he saw Earth as a “small ball” from 240,000 miles away, profoundly shaped his perspective, famously noting he could hide the planet behind his thumb.
Lovell’s family shared, “We are enormously proud of his amazing life and career accomplishments… He was our Hero. We will miss his unshakeable optimism, his sense of humor, and the way he made each of us feel we could do the impossible.” He is survived by his four children; his wife, Marilyn, passed away in 2023.
Tributes flooded X, with users like @mdburnell calling Lovell a “hero” whose leadership ensured Apollo’s legacy, and @FaytuksNetwork sharing news of his passing. NASA awarded Lovell the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and Presidential Medal of Freedom, among others. His memoir, Lost Moon, co-authored with Jeffrey Kluger, inspired the acclaimed film. After retiring from NASA in 1973, Lovell became a business leader and public speaker, advocating for space exploration and inspiring generations.