Astronaut Jim Lovell dies: About 'Apollo 13' film with Tom Hanks, true story of NASA mission
NASA announced Lovell, the 97-year-old Gemini XII and Apollo astronaut, died Thursday, Aug. 7, in Lake Forest, Illinois.
He served as the command module pilot for the Apollo 8 mission to the moon and, along with his crew, became the first to lift off on a Saturn V rocket and orbit the moon. During the nearly disastrous Apollo 13 mission more than 55 years ago, Lovell helped his crew return safely to Earth. Before reaching the lunar surface, their spacecraft encountered some serious trouble.
The spacefarers' perilous journey back to Earth was later recounted in "Apollo 13," a star-studded film released in 1995 whose title is the same as the now-infamous NASA mission.
Academy Award winner Tom Hanks played Lovell in the Ron Howard film "Apollo 13."
To mark the Academy Award-winning film's 30th anniversary, on July 24, Universal Pictures announced "Apollo 13" will head to IMAX theaters across the United States. The Sept. 19, 2025, IMAX premiere is meant to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the film's original June 30, 1995, theatrical release.
Who was Jim Lovell?
Apollo 13 brought the heroic story of Jim Lovell and the real Apollo 13 crew into the future.
Directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks, the late Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon, "Apollo 13" the movie bills itself as "the dramatic true story" of how NASA engineers in Houston, Texas, worked with the three astronauts to get them home safely.
'NASA sends its condolences to the family of Capt. Jim Lovell, whose life and work inspired millions of people across the decades. 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," acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy said in a statement. "We mourn his passing even as we celebrate his achievements."
Lovell was born in 1928 in Cleveland, Ohio and had flown in three space flights leading up to the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.
What happened with Apollo 13?
"Apollo 13" is inspired by the nearly disastrous April 1970 mission of the same name in which NASA's third planned mission to the moon had to be abandoned when an oxygen tank exploded on the service module.
For the three astronauts selected for the mission – Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise – the critical mishap two days into the mission transformed the spaceflight into a life-or-death situation. Relying on backup life-support systems on the Apollo Lunar Module meant to transport them to the moon's surface from orbit, the astronauts used primitive methods of celestial navigation to make their way back to Earth.
While in constant communication with flight controllers in Houston, Texas, the astronauts safely made a water landing April 17, 1970, in the South Pacific Ocean – six days after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
'Apollo 13' partially filmed in Florida, premiered on Space Coast
Ron Howard, who directed "Apollo 13," reportedly went to great effort to ensure the on-screen depiction of the mission was as accurate and realistic as possible. Lovell and NASA experts consulted on the film, which was even partially filmed at the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida.
What's more, two days before the film was widely released, it had a June 28, 1995 premiere on Florida's Space Coast, according to the website SpaceAgeChronicle. Haise and his wife, Mary, were both in attendance, as were many who were part of the Apollo 13 mission 25 years earlier.
Who were the astronauts of NASA's Apollo 13 mission?
The mission was under the command of Cleveland, Ohio, native Jim Lovell, then a veteran of three previous spaceflights who was first selected as a NASA astronaut in September 1962.
Jack Swigert, the command module pilot, had been selected as a NASA astronaut in 1966. Swigert, a native of Denver, Colorado, was a backup astronaut for the Apollo 13 mission and replaced astronaut Ken Mattingly, who was grounded after exposure to rubella.
The third crew member of Apollo 13 was Biloxi, Mississippi native Fred Haise, the Lunar Module pilot who was part of the same astronaut class as Swigert.
Haise, 91 is the remaining living crew member of Apollo 13.
'Apollo 13' 30th anniversary trailer
'Apollo 13' cast: Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon star
"Apollo 13" features an ensemble cast portraying the mission's astronauts, their families and the NASA engineers who helped get them home.
Here's a look:
as NASA astronaut Jim Lovell
as NASA astronaut Fred Haise
Kevin Bacon as NASA astronaut Jack Swigert
as NASA astronaut Ken Mattingly
Ed Harris as Gene Kranz, NASA's Chief Flight Director
as Marilyn Lovell
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell dies. Tom Hanks film and NASA mission
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