The biography of Jim Lovell
Jim Lovell, a world renowned astronaut who became one of the first three people to see the moon and he narrowly escaped the harrowing disaster of the Apollo thirteen that was made into a Hollywood movie which summented his legacy in history. He went on many dangerous and daring missions. He even went on the mission which said the now prominent speech,” Houston we have a problem.” Do you want to know about the oldest living astronaut, Jim Lovell?
Lovell was born in Ohio, Cleveland on March 25 1928 and was an only child. As a boy, he was always fascinated by flight and was inspired by Jerry Ross. Many years later he completed his training with the US navy and was chosen to be a potential astronaut. He joined the National Aeronautics Space Administration(NASA) in September of 1962 at the age of thirty-four years old and his first mission was the Gemini 7.
Jim Lovell’s illustrious career involved 4 phenomenal missions, namely; the Gemini 7, the Gemini 12, Apollo 8 and the infamous Apollo 13. In 1968, Jim Lovell was selected for the iconic Apollo 8 mission which paved the way for the laudable Apollo 11 mission. He was then selected for the doomed Apollo 13 mission. Within which, the oxygen tank heated up, increasing the pressure and causing it to explode. From that came the famous speech,” Houston we have a problem.”
Sadly, he missed out on the Apollo 11 mission due to a bone spurt which lead Neil Armstrong to glory. The Apollo 13 catastrophe was even turned into a well-known movie: they had to abort the mission and dash back to Earth. Miraculously, all the astronauts were alive. His joining in 1962 made a big impact to NASA’s Apollo 8 mission success. He was also the first person to fly into space 4 times! He has even been in space on different aircraft for 7000 hours!
In 1973, Jim Lovell retired from the NASA Space Program which wasn’t surprising considering how much he had done. He also earned many rewards for his remarkable achievements and contributions to being an astronaut such as the congressional space medal of honour. A crater was also named after him. He named a mountain after his beloved wife during the Apollo 8 mission. He is still alive at 97 years old and is still remembered as a legend. What a fitting tribute to a memorable man who pushed the boundaries of discovery for all of mankind.
