Hollywood star Tom Hanks has paid a moving tribute to American astronaut James Lovell, the real-life space hero he portrayed in the 1995 classic ‘Apollo 13’. Lovell passed away on Thursday at the age of 97 in Lake Forest, Illinois.
Hanks, who won an Oscar for ‘Forrest Gump’ and starred as Lovell in the space drama, took to Instagram on Friday to share heartfelt words about the man whose courage and leadership inspired millions.
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“There are people who dare, who dream, and who lead others to places we wouldn’t go on our own,” Hanks wrote. “Jim Lovell was that kind of guy. For a long time, he had gone farther into space and for longer than anyone else on Earth. His journeys were not for money or fame, but because challenges like those are what make life worth living.”
Tom Hanks on James Lovell:
Lovell’s NASA career began long before private space travel became a playground for tech billionaires. In 1968, he was part of the historic Apollo 8 mission, the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon. But his most famous mission came two years later with Apollo 13.
What was meant to be a smooth lunar landing turned into a fight for survival when an oxygen tank exploded mid-journey. As commander, Lovell’s quick thinking and calm leadership helped his crew navigate a near-freezing lunar module all the way back to Earth.
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The mission was famously described as “a successful failure” because, although they didn’t land on the moon, all three astronauts returned safely.
In his tribute, Hanks noted that Lovell’s passing coincided with a full moon, adding: “On this night of a full Moon, he passes on to the heavens, to the cosmos, to the stars. God speed you, on this next voyage, Jim Lovell.”
Lovell’s heroism earned him the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1995, presented by then-President Bill Clinton. That same year, before ‘Apollo 13’ began filming, Lovell invited Hanks to his home.
In a true astronaut fashion, he even let the actor fly his airplane at night so Hanks could better understand the feeling of being a pilot in the dark skies.