James Arthur Lovell Jr., the esteemed astronaut known for leading the Apollo 13 mission and being among the first humans to orbit the Moon, passed away on August 7, 2025, at the age of 97 in Lake Forest, Illinois.
In a statement, Lovell’s family announced his death and highlighted his roles as a Navy pilot, officer, astronaut, leader, and space explorer. They expressed pride in his accomplishments in human spaceflight, while noting that he was also known to them as “Dad, Granddad, and the Leader of our family.”
Born on March 25, 1928, in Cleveland, Ohio, Lovell spent much of his youth in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where his family ran a heating business. His interest in aviation was sparked by Charles Lindbergh’s 1927 transatlantic flight and tales from an uncle who was the 58th naval aviator. After his father’s death when he was 5, Lovell and his mother lived in a small apartment in Milwaukee.
Lovell attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, from 1948 to 1952. Following graduation, he married Marilyn Lillie Gerlach, his high school sweetheart from Juneau High School in Milwaukee. The couple was married for 71 years until Marilyn passed away on August 27, 2023, at the age of 93.
After starting his career as a naval aviator, Lovell served as a test pilot before joining NASA in 1962 with the second group of astronauts. He quickly made a name for himself in the space program, accumulating over 7,000 flight hours, including 3,500 hours in high-performance jets.
Lovell’s space career began with Gemini 7 in 1965, and he commanded Gemini 12 in November 1966. His historic early mission came in 1968 as the command module pilot of Apollo 8, making him one of the first three astronauts to fly to and orbit the Moon. During this mission, he named a triangular mountain Mount Marilyn after his wife, a name officially recognized by the International Astronomical Union in 2017.
Lovell is best known for commanding the Apollo 13 mission in April 1970, which launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11. Intended as NASA’s third Moon-landing mission, it became a critical effort for survival following an oxygen tank explosion about 205,000 miles from Earth on April 13.
The explosion was first communicated by crew member John “Jack” Swigert Jr. with the words “Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here,” leading the crew to abort the lunar landing and return safely to Earth. Lovell later noted the seriousness of the situation when he observed oxygen escaping from the spacecraft’s rear.
After 142 hours and 54 minutes in space, the crew safely splashed down in the South Pacific Ocean on April 17, 1970, about four miles from the recovery ship USS Iwo Jima. The next day, President Richard Nixon awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Lovell, Swigert, Fred Haise Jr., and the Mission Operations Team, recognizing “NASA’s finest hour.”
During his four space missions, Lovell logged 715 hours in space, a record until it was surpassed by Skylab crew members in 1973. At that time, he was the most traveled astronaut globally. Lovell called the Apollo 13 mission “a failure in its initial mission” but “a tremendous success in the ability of people to get together.”
Lovell retired from NASA and as a U.S. Navy captain on March 1, 1973. He later held executive roles in towing and telecommunications companies before retiring from the private sector in 1991. He co-authored “Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13” with journalist Jeffrey Kluger in 1994, which inspired the 1995 film “Apollo 13.”
The film, directed by Ron Howard and featuring Tom Hanks as Lovell, introduced his story to a new audience. Lovell had a cameo in the film as the captain of the USS Iwo Jima rescue ship. The well-known movie line “Houston, we have a problem” was a slight alteration of the actual spacecraft transmission.
In his later years, Lovell lived in Lake Forest, Illinois, where his family ran an upscale restaurant called Lovell’s, with his son Jay as head chef. Lovell continued to advocate for space exploration and education, frequently sharing his experiences.
Lovell is survived by his four children: Barbara Harrison, James Lovell III, Susan Lovell, and Jeffrey Lovell, along with 11 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. His passing closes a significant chapter in the history of the early space program, as he was one of the last surviving astronauts from the Apollo missions.