Apollo 13 commander James Lovell has died

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Apollo 13 commander James Lovell, who helped turn failed moon mission into triumph of on-the-fly engineering, has died.

[Permanut]

1. And did it using a primitive computer..

Amazing, heroic.

[edbermac]

2. Sad to hear.

That crew got back alive by the skin of their teeth. Read his book Lost Moon and watched many interviews with him. Seemed like a very decent guy.

RIP

[Nevilledog]

8. He was 97

[MyOwnPeace]

3. The "MacGyver crew" of NASA!

And our cell phones have more 'computing power' than the computers used by NASA at the time!
Unbelievable - but I still can't 'forward' articles!

Thank you for your service, SIR!

[roamer65]

4. I hope he finally gets to land on the moon.

Fra Mauro highlands, to be exact.



RIP, Commander Lovell.

[WestMichRad]

5. R.I.P. James Lovell

Your are a true legend.

[twodogsbarking]

6. Not the first time he has left earth.

[hauckeye]

7. He co-wrote a book about Apollo 13 called "Lost Moon"

A great read - see if your library has it.

[paulkienitz]

9. ever notice how all them astronauts live to be ninety-eleven?

Even Buzz Aldrin, despite being a heavy drinker for part of his life. These guys are just superior specimens. Back then the astronaut corps was an order of magnitude more exclusive and selective than, say, the Navy SEALS.

[AllaN01Bear]

10. ""

[SocialDemocrat61]

11. Rest In Peace

[irisblue]

12. Rest in glory and honor sir

His wiki page says his wife Marilyn passed in 2023

[Dave Bowman]

13. Sorry to hear that, he was a hero.

[littlemissmartypants]

14. ...

[Mr. Evil]

15. He reminded me of Eratosthenes.

Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the Earth, proving it was a sphere, around 240 BCE within 1%, with the assistance of one man, 2 sticks and brains. What Jim Lovell accomplished in space with the rudimentary computational tools at his disposal at the time and on the fly, is almost as extraordinary. A great American but, most importantly, a great human being.

[lastlib]

16. He also flew Apollo 8, the first to orbit the moon,

and two Gemini missions, including Gemini 7, the longest space flight in history until the Skylabl missions.


RIP, Astronaut Lovell. Now you're among the stars.

(...and you don't have to worry about the heat shield any more....)

[Raven123]

17. A great loss

In a strange coincidence, the most recent broadcast of the movie Apollo 13 got me thinking about Lovell and the Apollo program. The astronauts were incredibly intelligent, curious and adventurous. If you get a chance, YouTube carries a lot of videos about the program and missions. Worth watching

[LoisB]

18. May he soar in the heavens.

[VGNonly]

19. Captain James A. Lovell USN

Sail On