Jim Lovell: A Behind-The-Scenes Look at Apollo 13

By Cassandra Fournet on October 7, 2012

 

Before I begin, I ashamedly admit, that before I arrived in the auditorium at Texas A&M to hear Jim Lovell speak, I had to do some last minute research in the library. I did not know whether or not Apollo 13 crashed and burned or if it made it back to Earth. Yes, for a second I was “that girl”. It did not occur to me that since Jim Lovell was the commander, the crew had to have made it back to Earth safely. In my defense I never saw the movie. However, after hearing Jim Lovell speak, that will now be added to my bucket list.

James “Jim” Lovell started his career in the Navy with several aviator assignments.  He also served as the F4H Phantom Fighter Program Manager.  However, his career took a slight turn when he became an astronaut for NASA, in 1962.  The following are the thoughts, actions, and experiences of Jim Lovell as he spiraled through the universe.

In 1965, Jim Lovell worked along with Frank Borman and President Kennedy to figure out the length of time for a man  to travel to the moon.  It was decided that it would take approximately two weeks.  Therefore, Jim Lovell and Frank Borman were treated as guinea pigs to see if man could live in space for two weeks without gravity.  Lovell recalls, “They wouldn’t let us take off our spacesuits…as the time passed I unzipped mine a little, and then took the whole thing off.  I flew the rest of that flight in my underwear.”  However, “There were side effects of floating in zero gravity for two weeks”, says Lovell, “your muscles start to deteriorate, and my heart slowed 10 beats per minute because my body didn’t have to work as hard.”  Lovell and Borman returned home successfully executing the first in-space rendezvous of a two-manned spacecraft.

Jim Lovell’s second mission, Gemini 12, was in 1966, with pilot Buzz Aldrin.  The mission featured a link-up with the Agena Satellite and a spacewalk performed by Aldrin.  Their main goal was to figure out the EVA, in other words, what one can do outside the spacecraft.  Aldrin repeatedly became tired after working on the outside of the spacecraft and nobody knew the reason.  Lovell says, “We forgot one of Newton’s laws. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The spacecraft had a big mass and touching it with zero gravity made him tired. So, we went to Walmart and bought a large swimming pool, testing it out.”

Then, in the summer, of 1968 it was heard through intelligence that the Soviets were going to send a man to the moon that same year.  So Lovell was sent on his third mission, Apollo 8, along with Frank Borman and Bill Anders, in December of 1968.  Apollo 8 was strictly an orbital to circle the moon and scope out suitable landing areas.  Lovell recalls, “We were the first three people to look at the backside of the moon… to look at the earth 245,000 miles away gives us a perspective of what we are.  The world, its troubles, Texas A&M (Whoop!), all behind your thumb, and we realize how insignificant we are.”  The orbit was performed on Christmas Eve.  The men in the spacecraft, then needed words to say to the rest of the world, and they were speechless.  A reporter was sent to help them make a speech, but Lovell’s wife said, “Have them read from the Old Testament, since that is the basis of most of the world’s religions.”  So that is exactly what they did.

“We were the first three people to look at the backside of the moon… to look at the earth 245,000 miles away gives us a perspective of what we are.  The world, its troubles, Texas A&M (Whoop!), all behind your thumb, and we realize how insignificant we are.” 

Lovell’s last flight, along with crew members Jack Swigert and Fred Haise, was the cursed Apollo 13 mission, in April of 1970.  Lovell claims, “It was probably my most challenging flight.  It is a story of crisis management, something everyone should learn…good leadership fosters teamwork. You have to have people working together.”  As Apollo 13 neared the moon, an oxygen tank in the Surface Module exploded, turning the oxygen into gas.  Lovell admits, “My heart rate got to 130 at the time of the explosion.”  Suddenly, the mission of Apollo 13 changed from orbiting the moon to getting back to Earth safely.  The spacecraft needed to change its course rapidly in order to retrieve from orbit, or become stuck in orbit for an unspecified amount of time.  The crew and mission control only had 3 days.  Lovell explains, “At the control center teamwork comes in.  The plans they had been working on for weeks were needed in a couple of hours and they had to be right.  All systems were turned off to keep the temperature of the craft stable.  I had to say goodbye to my wife. She was in the control center and then the control center went out.”  After a successful return to Earth, Lovell explains, “We parachuted and a ship was waiting for us a mile and a half away.  I think Houston quietly tore up the obituaries they had written up for us.  Fifty-five countries offered water and assistance to the U.S. On the plane [back to NASA] we called our wives.” When an engineering student from the crowd asked Lovell his favorite memory of being an Astronaut, Lovell replied, “I have two.  The first was taking the first look at the Earth and seeing exactly where we stand in the universe.  My second was after Apollo 13 when I got off the airplane and I saw my wife and she said, “Hey, I am sure glad you’re home.””

Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert showed the world that giving up is never an option. When 55 countries offer assistance to three men, that in itself is inspiring.  Even in the darkest of moments, nothing is impossible when teamwork is applied.  So think about being the commander of Apollo 13 the next time you are having a bad day.

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