“Jim’s character and unwavering value helped our nation to reach the moon and turned a potential tragedy into a success we learned greatly. We regretted his death while we celebrated his achievements,” the agency said in a statement.
Lovell was one of the astronauts with the most flights in the first decade of NASA, with four missions: Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 and Apollo 13. His trips aboard the Apollo program captivated the world.
From the Earth’s orbit to a historical rescue
In 1968, next to Frank Borman and William Andersintegrated the Apollo 8 crew, the first mission to abandon the Earth’s orbit and fly to the Moon. Although they did not land, their trip put to the United States ahead of the Soviet Union in the space race. The image of the Earth as “Pale blue point”And the reading of Genesis on Christmas Eve marked a milestone in a convulsed 1968.
Born on March 25, 1928 in Cleveland, Lovell studied at the University of Wisconsin and then at the United States Naval Academy, where he graduated in 1952, the same day he married Marilynn.
In 1962, while he was Marina’s test pilot, he was selected as Astronaut in the second NASA group, known as “the next nine.” It was the last survivor of that generation and the one that served as an astronaut.
He retired in 1973 and dedicated himself to business. In 1994 he co -wrote with Jeff Kluger the book Lost Moonwho inspired the movie Apollo 13in which he briefly played a captain of the Navy. He also owned the Lovell’s of Lake Forest restaurant, already closed.
His wife died in 2023 and his four children survive. In a statement, his family defined him as his “hero” and recalled: “We will miss his unwavering optimism, his sense of humor and the way he made us feel that we could do the impossible. It was truly unique.”
“Houston, we have a problem”
The famous phrase “Houston, we have a problem” (“Houston, We have a problem”) comes from the mission Apollo 13 NASA, in April 1970.
During the trip to the moon, about 56 hours after the launch, one of the oxygen tanks of the service module exploded. This caused the loss of energy and oxygen, putting the lives of the three astronauts at risk: James Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise.
Actually, the original phrase was not exactly like that. The first to report the emergency was Swigertsaying: “Okay, Houston, We’ve had a problem here” (“Okay, Houston, we had a problem here”). Lovell repeated shortly after: “Houston, We’ve had a problem”.
The popular version –“Houston, We have problems”– It spread years later, especially thanks to the movie “Apollo 13” (1995), starring Tom Hanks, who dramatized the mission. Since then, the phrase is used worldwide as a synonym for warning or sign that something is wrong.
Source: Ambito
