Jim Lovell: podcast appearances and interviews

James Arthur Lovell Jr. was an American astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot, and mechanical engineer. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1952 and served as a night fighter pilot flying McDonnell F2H Banshee aircraft in the Western Pacific aboard the USS Shangri-La. Lovell entered test pilot training at the Naval Air Test Center at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in 1958, graduating at the top of his class. He was later assigned to electronics testing and became the Navy's program manager for the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. Throughout his career, Lovell served as a flight instructor and safety engineering officer, completing Aviation Safety School at the University of Southern California. Although initially not selected as part of the Mercury Seven, he was accepted into NASA’s astronaut program in September 1962 and became one of the second group selected for the Gemini and Apollo missions. Lovell flew in space on two Gemini missions, Gemini 7 and Gemini 12, and was the first person to fly into space four times. He is notable for being the first person to reach the Moon twice, although he did not walk on its surface. Lovell served as the command module pilot of Apollo 8 in 1968, making him one of the first astronauts to orbit the Moon, alongside Frank Borman and William Anders. He then commanded the Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970, which experienced a critical failure en route but ultimately looped around the Moon and safely returned to Earth. Lovell received numerous honors, including the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and coauthored the book 'Lost Moon' about the Apollo 13 mission. He passed away in 2025 at the age of 97.