James Arthur "
Jim"
Lovell, Jr. (born March 25, 1928) is a former
NASA astronaut and a retired
captain in the
United States 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 have flown there twice without making a
landing. Lovell was also the first person to fly in space four times.