One of just 24 people to have flown to the moon, famed Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell was the first person to fly there twice, but never landed on its rocky surface.
Lovell, who died Aug. 7 at age 97, is best known for captaining the Apollo 13 mission safely back to earth after a devastating onboard explosion, saving his own life, his crew and perhaps America's space program.
Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy said in an Aug. 8 statement that Lovell's "character and steadfast courage helped our nation reach the moon and turned a potential tragedy into a success from which we learned an enormous amount."
But Lovell achieved far more than just rescuing one mission.
As part of the Gemini and Apollo programs, Lovell was the first astronaut to go to space four times. He was the Mission Commander for the nearly disastrous Apollo 13 mission to the moon.
