James+Lovell+Jr.

James Lovell Jr. was born on March 25, 1928 in Cleveland Ohio. Lovell attended University of Wisconson. He then went on to earn a Bachelor of Science Degree from the United States Naval Academy,Annapolis in 1952. He became a test pilot in 1963 and was selected by NASA to be in the second group of astronauts. His first flight was in December 4,1965 aboard the Gemini 7. Lovell joined Buzz Aldrin for the last flight of the Gemini series, Gemini 12. The flight was launched on November 11, 1966 and remained in space for four days. After the horrible fire in 1967 on Apollo 1 Lovell became module pilot and navigator of Apollo 8. Apollo 8 was launched on December 21, 1968. This flight included Lovell, Frank Borman and William Anders. They reached the moon on December 25,1968. In 1970 Lovell gained command of his own mission, Apollo 13. A malfunction of an oxygen tank on April 13, 1970 caused a power malfunction which, in turn caused the mission to be cut short. The crew changed the course of their mission swinging once around the moon and back down to earth. Apollo 13 successfully returned to earth on April 17, 1970. Lovell has completed over 715 hours of space travel. Lovell became a deputy director for Johnson Space Center, Houston,Texas in 1971. After two years as a deputy director Lovell finally retired from the space program and the Navy in 1973. Later on, Lovell began his own business, Lovell Communications. He also co-wrote //Lost Moon// with Jeffrey Kluger. //Lost Moon// was published in 1994. In 1995 a movie was made based on the book, starring Tom Hanks and Lovell(in a cameo).

I chose James Lovell Jr. because I think he was an amazing astronaut and he accomplished many great things in his life. I was astonished at how much he brought to NASA and the space program, for example I thought it was great how he helped prepare for the flight landing on the moon. It was neat that he wrote a book about the Apollo 13 mission and it became a movie. The book helps people to learn more about what he did and what happened on that mission. James Lovell Jr. is a wonderful role model and a fantastic astronaut.

[|Wade, Mark. "Lovell." Astronautix. 28 May 2009 .]  [|"Jim Lovell," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2009 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2009 Microsoft Corporation.] [|James A. Lovell, Jr.. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved May 31, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online:http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/349564/James-A-Lovell-Jr] 

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