Lovell, << LUHV uhl, >> James Arthur, Jr. (1928-…), was a United States astronaut. In 1965, Lovell and Frank Borman established a space endurance record by spending 14 days in Earth orbit aboard the Gemini 7 spacecraft. During this mission, they achieved the first rendezvous (close approach) in space with the Gemini 6 spacecraft piloted by Walter M. Schirra, Jr., and Thomas P. Stafford. In 1966, Lovell commanded the Gemini 12 flight. In December 1968, he served as command module pilot aboard Apollo 8, and on Christmas Eve he, Frank Borman, and William A. Anders became the first people to circle the moon.
In April 1970, Lovell commanded the Apollo 13 mission, intended to be the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)‘s third lunar landing. An explosion in the spacecraft’s service module resulted in a severe loss of electric power and oxygen. Lovell and crewmates Fred W. Haise, Jr., and John L. Swigert, Jr., survived in the lunar module while they circled the moon and returned to Earth. Prior to reentry, the crew cast off the service and lunar modules. They used the command module to make a safe splashdown.
Lovell was born on March 25, 1928, in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended the University of Wisconsin from 1946 to 1948, and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1952. He served as a test pilot and flight instructor before becoming an astronaut in 1962. Lovell resigned from the space program and from the Navy in 1973. He then held executive positions with a number of telecommunications companies until he retired from business in 1991. He is the coauthor of Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 (1994).
