Commander of the Apollo 13 lunar mission dies at the age of 97
10 August 00:21
James Lovell, the commander of the Apollo 13 spacecraft that landed on the moon, has died at the age of 97.
This was reported by the Associated Press (AP), "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
“Jim’s character and unwavering courage helped our nation reach the moon and turned a potential tragedy into a success from which we learned a lot,” NASA commented on the astronaut’s death.
The potential tragedy refers to an incident during the Apollo 13 flight in 1970, during which an oxygen tank exploded on the Apollo 13 module in which Lovell and two other astronauts were traveling. As a result, they had to spend four days in another module that was less suitable for life. In a movie about the lunar mission, Lovell’s character Tom Hanks commented on the situation with the catchphrase “Houston, we’re in trouble.” This phrase was actually said by John Swigert.
According to the astronaut himself, after he felt the proximity of death during the mission, he stopped worrying during other critical situations, recalling that he could have died several years ago during the flight.
During his career, Lovell traveled to space four times and spent 715 hours and 6 minutes there. At the same time, he was the only one of the five participants in the lunar mission who never visited the surface of the satellite.
