As one of the few people who guide others to places we wouldn’t go alone, Tom Hanksis remembers the late astronaut Jim Lovell, who he played in the Oscar-winning movie Apollo 13.
NASA’s announcement that the Apollo 13 mission commander passed away on Thursday in Lake Forest, Illinois, at the age of 97, was followed by Hanks’ homage.
In an emotional post on Friday, Hanks wrote, “There are people who dare, who dream, and who lead others to the places we would not go on our own.” That kind of individual was Jim Lovell, who for a long time had traveled farther and longer into space than any other person from our planet.
Hanks explained that Lovell’s numerous trips around the planet and extremely close to the moon were not intended for financial gain or fame, but rather because challenges like those are what give life its purpose, and who better than Jim Lovell to undertake such journeys?
Hank added that it was appropriate that Lovell’s passing was revealed just hours before a full moon night.
He ascends to the stars, the cosmos, and the heavens. “Godspeed on your next journey,” Hanks said.
Lovell’s time at NASA comprised three additional flights in addition to Apollo 13: Gemini 7, Gemini 12, and Apollo 8. The latter was the first crewed expedition to reach the moon and leave Earth’s orbit. They cleared the path for the Apollo 11 moon mission, but they did not make a surface touchdown.
Lovell is praised by NASA with helping our country break new ground in space, paving the way for future Artemis missions to the moon and beyond.
