happy 87th birthday to astronaut Jim Lovell. In 1962, NASA

Today we wish a happy 87th birthday to astronaut Jim Lovell. In 1962, NASA selected Lovell to be an astronaut, and he flew his joined with Gemini VI to complete the first crewed spacecraft rendezvous. In 1966, he commanded Gemini XII and two years after that was the command module pilot on Apollo 8. Most remembered for his final flight, Lovell served as commander on the near-tragic Apollo 13 mission. During this mission he and fellow crewmembers, John Swigert and Fred Haise, avoided disaster 200,000 miles from Earth after a malfunction with an oxygen tank caused an explosion in the service module of the spacecraft.
Learn more about Jim Lovell and Apollo 13 here: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_p…/apollo/missions/apollo13.html