Jim Lovell, commander of NASA's Apollo 13 moon mission, dies at 97

Official NASA portrait of Apollo 8 and Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell.

NASA astronaut Jim Lovell, who helped turn the near-disastrous Apollo 13 moon mission into an inspiring tale of ingenuity and survival, has died at the age of 97.

Jim Lovell passed away on Thursday (Aug. 7) in Lake Forest, Illinois, according to NASA officials. But the astronaut, a veteran of four pioneering spaceflights, left a mark on the agency and the nation that will last far into the future.