American Nasa astronaut Jim Lovell, who commanded the Apollo 13 mission that was forced to abort its lunar landing in 1970, died Friday at the age of 97.Lovell passed away in Lake Forest, Illinois, according to a Nasa news release. The cause of death was not immediately disclosed.Lovell was a pioneering figure in human spaceflight, being the first astronaut to make four spaceflights and logging over 715 hours in space. Before Apollo 13, he flew on the Gemini 7, Gemini 12, and Apollo 8 missions. Apollo 8, which orbited the moon without landing, made Lovell the first person to see the moon up close twice, reported CNN.During the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, Lovell commanded the crew alongside astronauts John Swigert Jr and Fred Haise Jr. About 200,000 miles from Earth, an oxygen tank in their service module exploded, crippling their power and life support systems. Lovell famously informed mission control, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.”With their lunar landing abandoned, the crew had to perform critical engine burns to loop around the far side of the moon and set a course back to Earth. After a tense journey, they splashed down safely in the South Pacific Ocean about three days later. The mission became known as the “successful failure” of the Apollo program.The dramatic story of Apollo 13 was later portrayed in Ron Howard’s 1995 film, “Apollo 13.”Lovell’s family released a statement requesting privacy and said they were “saddened to announce the passing of our beloved father, USN Captain James A ‘Jim’ Lovell, a Navy pilot and officer, astronaut, leader, and space explorer.” They added, “We are enormously proud of his amazing life and career accomplishments, highlighted by his legendary leadership in pioneering human space flight. But, to all of us, he was Dad, Granddad, and the Leader of our family. Most importantly, he was our Hero.”Acting Nasa administrator Sean Duffy praised Lovell’s legacy, saying his “calm strength under pressure helped return the crew safely to Earth and demonstrated the quick thinking and innovation that informed future Nasa missions.”
