US astronaut Jim Lovell, the commander of the Apollo 13 Moon mission which nearly ended in disaster in 1970 after a mid-flight explosion, has died at the age of 97, NASA announced Friday. The former Navy pilot died in a Chicago suburb on Thursday, the US space agency said in a statement. The astronaut’s “life and work inspired millions of people across the decades,” NASA said, praising his “character and steadfast courage.” Lovell travelled to the Moon twice but never walked on the lunar surface. Yet he is considered one of the greats of the US space program after rescuing a mission that teetered on the brink of disaster as the world watched in suspense far below.Hollywood actor Tom Hanks, who played Lovell in the 1995 movie ‘Apollo 13’, took to his social media handle to pay tribute to the astronaut. He wrote, “There are people who dare, who dream, and who lead others to the place we would not go on our own. Jim Lovell, who for a long while had gone farther into space and for longer than any other person of our planet, was that kind of guy. His many voyages around Earth and on to so-very-close to the moon were not made for riches or celebrity, but because such challenges as those are what fuels the course of being alive — and who better than Jim Lovell to make those voyages.”He went on to add, ” On this night of a full Moon, he passes on — to the heavens, to the cosmos, to the stars. God speed you, on this next voyage, Jim Lovell.”Fans of the movie took to social media to remember Lovell. Many also posted photos of his cameo from the film and wrote, “In the movie Apollo 13, Jim Lovell made a cameo appearance as an admiral (on left) greeting Tom Hanks on the aircraft carrier.”“This scene is even more moving today: right, Tom Hanks playing Jim Lovell; left, cameo appearance by actual Jim Lovell (1928 Mar 25 – 2025 Aug 7),” said another.
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