NASA Remembers Apollo Astronaut Jim Lovell

Jim Lovell was a veteran of the Gemini VII and Gemini XII missions before becoming command module pilot and navigator for Apollo 8, the first crewed spacecraft to be lifted into near-Earth orbit by the Saturn V launch vehicle. He became the first man to orbit the Moon on two separate missions when he served as the commander of Apollo 13.

Unfortunately, the mission to explore the Fra Mauro region of the Moon did not go as planned. What many viewed as a "routine" mission soon had millions around the globe glued to television sets watching and hoping for a positive outcome to one of the most intense episodes in the history of space exploration.