1372: "James Lovell - Commander of Apollo 13"

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Written By JC

Interesting Things with JC #1372: "James Lovell – Commander of Apollo 13" – From launching homemade rockets in Milwaukee fields to leading a crippled spacecraft safely home, James Lovell’s life was a flight plan written in courage. His steady hand turned near-certain disaster into one of history’s greatest rescues.

Curriculum - Episode Anchor

Episode Title: James Lovell – Commander of Apollo 13

Episode Number: 1372

Host: JC

Audience: Grades 9–12, college intro, homeschool, lifelong learners

Subject Area: History of Space Exploration, Engineering, Leadership under Crisis

Lesson Overview

Learning Objectives:

  • Define key events in James Lovell’s career, including his role in Apollo 13.

  • Compare Lovell’s earlier space missions to his Apollo 13 experience.

  • Analyze the leadership decisions made during the Apollo 13 crisis.

  • Explain how preparation and teamwork contributed to the mission’s survival.

Key Vocabulary

  • Commander (kuh-MAN-der) — The leader in charge of a mission or vessel. James Lovell served as commander of Apollo 13.

  • Oxygen tank (AHK-sih-jen tank) — A container for storing oxygen under pressure; one exploded on Apollo 13, causing the crisis.

  • Service module (SUR-vis MAH-jool) — The section of the Apollo spacecraft housing propulsion, electrical power, and life support systems.

  • Carbon dioxide (KAR-bon dye-OK-side) — A gas produced by breathing; dangerous at high levels, requiring a filtration fix during Apollo 13.

  • Splashdown (SPLASH-down) — The landing of a spacecraft in the ocean at the end of a mission.

Narrative Core

Open – The episode begins with Lovell’s childhood in Cleveland and Milwaukee, where his early experiments with rockets set the stage for a lifetime in flight.

Info – Lovell’s education at the Naval Academy and his career as a Navy test pilot showcase his technical skills and calm under pressure, leading to his selection as a NASA astronaut.

Details – His missions—Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8—built his reputation before Apollo 13’s launch in April 1970, which turned from a Moon landing into a desperate struggle for survival after an oxygen tank explosion.

Reflection – Lovell’s poise, problem-solving, and collaboration with Mission Control illustrate how preparation and composure can lead to success even in life-threatening situations.

Closing – These are interesting things, with JC.

Nasa Portrait of James Arthur Lovell Jr

Transcript

James Arthur Lovell Jr. was born March 25, 1928, in Cleveland, Ohio, during the tail end of the Great Depression. His father passed away when he was young, and his mother raised him in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Long before he wore a flight suit, Lovell was a boy with a workbench cluttered with cardboard tubes, balsa wood, and chemicals for homemade rocket fuel. He tested his early designs in a nearby field—more than once sending the neighbors to their windows. Those experiments earned him a spot in a Boy Scouts rocketry program, a rare opportunity in the 1940s when spaceflight was still science fiction.

At the United States Naval Academy, where he graduated in 1952, Lovell joined a small campus rocket society. He and other midshipmen designed and launched solid-fuel rockets, an activity that had no military funding and little public awareness but prepared him for the engineering mindset that spaceflight would demand.

After earning his commission, Lovell trained as a Navy test pilot, the kind of job where you strap into a plane that’s never been flown before, take it into the air, and find out what works and what doesn’t. At the Naval Air Test Center in Maryland, he flew aircraft like the F-4 Phantom II and the F-8 Crusader, both capable of supersonic flight. His precision and calm under pressure caught NASA’s attention, and in 1962 he was chosen as one of nine astronauts in the agency’s second group.

His flight record grew quickly. In 1965, he flew Gemini 7 with Frank Borman, spending almost 14 days in orbit in a cabin about the size of a small car—55 cubic feet (1.56 cubic meters). A year later, he commanded Gemini 12 with Buzz Aldrin, finishing the work on how to walk and work outside a spacecraft. In 1968, he flew as command module pilot on Apollo 8, the first mission to leave Earth’s orbit and circle the Moon. That trip was nearly 240,000 miles (386,000 kilometers) each way, and he became one of the first three men to see the far side of the Moon and look back at Earth hanging in the black.

Apollo 13 was set to be his last flight—and his chance to walk on the Moon. On April 11, 1970, the spacecraft left Kennedy Space Center. Two days later, 200,000 miles (322,000 kilometers) from home, an oxygen tank in the service module exploded. Lights went out, power failed, and the cabin temperature dropped to 38 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius). Drinking water was cut to six ounces (177 milliliters) per man, per day. Carbon dioxide began to build up until the crew, working with Mission Control, built a fix from cardboard, tape, and spare parts.

Lovell’s voice to Houston—“We’ve had a problem”—wasn’t for drama. It was the sound of a commander making sure the right information reached the ground without panic. He worked with Mission Control to shut down the command module, conserve power, and use the lunar module’s engine to swing around the Moon and head home. On April 17, after traveling more than half a million miles (804,000 kilometers) through space, Apollo 13 splashed down in the South Pacific, only 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) from the recovery ship USS Iwo Jima.

Lovell retired from the Navy as a captain, went into business, and co-owned a restaurant in Illinois called Lovell’s of Lake Forest. He co-wrote Lost Moon with Jeffrey Kluger, the full account of Apollo 13 that later became the 1995 film Apollo 13—where Tom Hanks played Lovell, and the real Lovell made a brief appearance as the recovery ship’s captain.

Over his career, he logged more than 7,000 hours of flight time, including 715 in space. His honors include the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and multiple NASA Distinguished Service Medals. He passed away on August 8, 2025, at the age of 96—his life covering the span from propeller planes to spacecraft circling the Moon.

From those early rockets in a Milwaukee field to bringing Apollo 13 home against all odds, Lovell’s life taught us all that even in the darkest, most uncertain hours, preparation and steady resolve can light the way home.

These are interesting things, with JC.

Student Worksheet

  1. What early activities sparked James Lovell’s interest in rocketry?

  2. How did Lovell’s experience as a Navy test pilot prepare him for spaceflight?

  3. Compare the goals of Apollo 8 and Apollo 13.

  4. Describe the emergency faced by the Apollo 13 crew and how it was resolved.

  5. In your own words, explain why leadership and preparation were critical to Apollo 13’s safe return.

Teacher Guide

Estimated Time: 50–60 minutes

Pre-Teaching Vocabulary Strategy:

  • Use images and diagrams of spacecraft components to define terms.

  • Practice pronunciation and context-based sentences for key vocabulary.

Anticipated Misconceptions:

  • Students may think Apollo 13 was a failed mission; clarify it was a “successful failure” because the crew returned safely.

  • Some may believe space missions always had high public awareness before Apollo 11; explain early missions were often little-known.

Discussion Prompts:

  • What qualities made Lovell an effective leader during Apollo 13?

  • How do early life experiences influence career paths in STEM?

Differentiation Strategies:

  • ESL: Provide bilingual vocabulary lists and visual aids.

  • IEP: Use audio recordings of the transcript and guided note-taking.

  • Gifted: Assign deeper research into spacecraft engineering solutions.

Extension Activities:

  • Build a model demonstrating the CO₂ filter fix from Apollo 13.

  • Compare Apollo 13’s trajectory to modern Artemis mission plans.

Cross-Curricular Connections:

  • Physics: Newton’s laws in spacecraft trajectory changes.

  • History: Cold War space race context.

  • Ethics: Decision-making under crisis.

Quiz

  1. Where was James Lovell born?
    A. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    B. Cleveland, Ohio
    C. Baltimore, Maryland
    D. Houston, Texas
    Answer: B

  2. What spacecraft was Lovell commanding when the oxygen tank exploded?
    A. Apollo 8
    B. Apollo 11
    C. Apollo 13
    D. Gemini 12
    Answer: C

  3. What was the cabin temperature after the explosion?
    A. 50°F
    B. 45°F
    C. 38°F
    D. 32°F
    Answer: C

  4. How many hours of flight time did Lovell log in his career?
    A. 5,000+
    B. 7,000+
    C. 10,000+
    D. 715+
    Answer: B

  5. Which actor portrayed Lovell in the film Apollo 13?
    A. Ed Harris
    B. Tom Hanks
    C. Kevin Bacon
    D. Bill Paxton
    Answer: B

Assessment

Open-ended questions:

  1. Analyze how Lovell’s calm communication style affected the outcome of Apollo 13.

  2. Explain how early amateur experiments can prepare someone for professional engineering challenges.

3–2–1 Rubric:

  • 3: Accurate, complete, thoughtful

  • 2: Partial or missing detail

  • 1: Inaccurate or vague

Standards Alignment

U.S. Standards:

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.2 – Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development.

  • NGSS HS-ETS1-2 – Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller problems.

  • C3 D2.His.14.9-12 – Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects in historical events.

  • ISTE 4a – Students know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts, or solving problems.

UK / International Equivalents:

  • AQA GCSE History 8145 – Understanding the historic environment and key figures.

  • IB MYP Sciences Criterion C – Processing and evaluating solutions to scientific problems.

  • Cambridge IGCSE Physics 0625 – Forces and motion applied to space travel scenarios.

Show Notes

This episode explores the extraordinary life of James Lovell, from his boyhood rocketry experiments to commanding Apollo 13, one of NASA’s most challenging missions. It highlights Lovell’s early technical curiosity, rigorous training as a Navy test pilot, and groundbreaking space missions, culminating in the near-disaster of Apollo 13 and the teamwork that brought the crew safely home. In the classroom, this story provides rich material for discussing leadership, engineering problem-solving, and the resilience needed to navigate crises—skills as relevant today as they were in 1970.

References

JC https://jimconnors.org
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