James Arthur Lovell - Biography.

James Arthur Lovell - Biography. American astronaut Birth March 25, 1928 Place of Birth Cleveland, Ohio Known for Piloting the command module of Apollo 8, the first manned flight around the Moon Successfully bringing Apollo 13 back to Earth following the near-disastrous explosion that occurred two days into the mission Career 1958 Entered U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Maryland 1962 Was chosen as an astronaut for NASA December 1965 Piloted Gemini 7, which participated in the first rendezvous of two manned vehicles in space November 1966 Commanded Gemini 12 December 1968 Piloted the command module of Apollo 8, the first manned flight around the Moon April 1970 Commanded Apollo 13, an intended lunar landing; an explosion aboard the service module forced the cancellation of the mission 1970 Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom 1973 Retired from the Navy and resigned from NASA Did You Lovell was the first astronaut to fly on four space missions. Know Although Lovell flew two missions to the Moon, he never landed on its surface. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.