 Jim Lovell attended the University of Wisconsin from 1946 to 1948, and received a
Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1952. He attended the Test Pilot
School at the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Md. Lovell served as a test pilot and
flight instructor before becoming an astronaut in 1962. Jim was the pilot of Gemini 7, commanded Gemini 12, orbited the moon on Apollo 8, and commanded the aborted Apollo 13 moon flight. The Gemini 7 crew is, Jim Lovell and Frank Borman. In 1965 Jim spent 14 days in space with Frank Borman on Gemini 7 and made the first rendezvous (close approach) in space with the Gemini 6 spacecraft piloted by Walter M. Schirra, Jr., and Thomas P. Stafford. The Gemini 12 crew is, Jim Lovell and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. Gemini 12 launched on November 11,1966. The Gemini 12 mission with pilot "Buzz" Aldrin began November 11, 1966, and featured a link up with an Agena satellite and a space walk by Aldrin. The next mission Jim went on was Apollo 8. It launched on December 21, 1968. The 8th Apollo mission was the biggest gamble ever taken by NASA because NASA did not think the crew of Apollo 8 was ready, but they sent Jim Lovell, William Anders, and Frank Borman into space anyway. On Apollo 8 the command module orbited the moon on Christmas Eve and as they used a camcorder to film the moon one members of the crew read from the book of Genesis in the Bible. The last but certainly not least mission Lovell went on was Apollo 13. Apollo 13's crew was Fred Haise, Jr., John Swigert, Jr., and Jim Lovell, Jr. No one was scared about flying on Apollo "13", launching at 13:13 military time, or entering the moon's gravity on April "13". The Apollo 13 mission went well until Swigert went to "stir" the oxygen tanks. An oxygen tank ruptured and the crew had to use the lunar module as a lifeboat for three days. After six days in space they finally splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. Lovell resigned from the astronaut program in 1971. |