James "Jim" Arthur Lovell, Jr., is a former NASA astronaut and a retired captain
in the U.S. Navy, most famous as the commander of the Apollo 13 mission, which
suffered a critical failure en route to the Moon but was brought back safely to
Earth by the efforts of the crew and mission control. Lovell was also the command
module pilot of Apollo 8, the first Apollo mission to enter lunar orbit. Lovell is a
recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and the Presidential Medal
of Freedom. He is one of only 24 people to have flown to the Moon, the first of
only three people to fly to the Moon twice, and the only one to do so without
making a landing. Lovell was also the first American to fly in space four times. 

The Apollo 13 crew back home