Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell Dead

LAKE FOREST, IL.– The commander of NASA’s Apollo 13 mission has died.

NASA announced astronaut Jim Lovell died Thursday in Lake Forest, Illinois at the age of 97. Lovell helped the Apollo 13 mission return to Earth after the spacecraft’s oxygen tank exploded. The mission was depicted in the Oscar-winning film “Apollo 13,” which starred Tom Hanks as Lovell.

Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy said Lovell’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 was also the first astronaut to travel to space four times.