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James A. Lovell



James A. Lovell

James A. Lovell
JAMES A. LOVELL
Astronaut
James A. Lovell, Jr. was born March 25th, 1928 in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1952 and became a test pilot in 1958. In 1962 he was selected for astronaut training in the Gemini and Apollo programs.

Lovell made two flights in each of the Gemini and Apollo programs. In Gemini 7, with Frank Borman, he made the first space rendezvous with Gemini 6. He flew in Gemini 12, the final Gemini flight, with Buzz Aldrin.

On December 21st, 1968, Lovell, Frank Borman and William Anders became the first men to leave Earth's gravity and orbit the moon. Apollo 8 gave us our first close-up view of the lunar surface and of the moon's back side. Most significantly, Apollo 8 confirmed the technology which permitted succeeding crews to land on the moon.

In 1970, with Fred Haise, Jr. and John Swigert, Jr., he returned the crippled Apollo 13 safely to Earth after an in-flight emergency.

James Lovell retired from the Navy and NASA in 1973 to enter the business world.
Elected to the International Aerospace Hall of Fame 1990