Apollo 13 Astronaut Jim Lovell Dead at 97

Jim Lovell -- the commander of the Apollo 13 mission that nearly ended in disaster and inspired a blockbuster 1995 film -- has died.

Lovell died at his home in Illinois Thursday ... and, NASA released a statement Friday adding Lovell inspired millions of people -- and his influence has echoed down the decades as NASA continues to explore space.

Lovell's family also released a statement ... writing the whole clan will "miss his unshakeable optimism, his sense of humor, and the way he made each of us feel we could do the impossible. He was truly one of a kind.”

Lovell went to space on four different missions ... first going up on Gemini VII in 1965. He followed it up with the Gemini XII flight the year after.

He was on the Apollo 8 mission when he and his two crewmates became the first three people in history to orbit the moon.

However, Lovell will be most remembered for being the Command Pilot on the Apollo 13 mission ... which almost ended in catastrophe when an oxygen tank onboard exploded.

The crew had to move to the Lunar Module and, through some impressive modifications, were able to survive the extra time necessary in order to use the moon's orbit to get themselves back to Earth.

Lovell wrote all about the experience in his 1994 book "Lost Moon" ... on which the movie "Apollo 13" is based. Tom Hanks played Lovell, and Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton played his fellow crew members.

In his later years, Lovell became a restaurant owner and a board of directors member for the Astronautics Corporation of America in Milwaukee.

Lovell's wife Marilyn died in 2023 after more than 70 years of marriage.

Lovell was 97.