![\"James](\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/_BRIZR1U6oHxJxPgNCzWWuqeIUo=\/1500x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)\/Tom-Hanks-James-Lovell-98-080825-f3e1db02b6d14edd9deef1c0a4c06552.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Tom Hanks posted a tribute on social media to James Lovell, who died on Aug. 7<\/p>\n
Lovell was a NASA astronaut known for commanding the troubled Apollo 13 mission<\/p>\n
That mission was turned into a hit 1995 film starring Hanks as Lovell<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tom Hanks is honoring astronaut James Lovell, who died on Thursday, Aug. 7 at age 97. Lovell\u2019s daughter-in-law confirmed the news to The New York Times.
\nHanks, 69, played Lovell in the 1995 movie Apollo 13. That Ron Howard-directed docudrama retold the real-life 1970 lunar mission that Lovell commanded which endured critical failures before returning safely to Earth.
\n“There are people who dare, who dream, and who lead others to the places we would not go on our own,” said the Oscar-winning actor in a statement shared on Instagram. “Jim Lovell, who for a long while had gone farther into space and for longer than any other person of our planet, was that kind of guy.”
\nHanks continued, “His many voyages around Earth and on to so-very-close to the moon were not made for riches or celebrity, but because such challenges as those are what fuels the course of being alive \u2014\u00a0and who better than Jim Lovell to make those voyages.”
\nApollo 13 Crew Overcame Incredible Obstacles to Survive 50 Years Ago: Read Their Inspiring Quotes
\nRon Howard Reflects on Making Apollo 13 25 Years After It First Hit Theaters
\nThe actor concluded, “On this night of a full moon, he passes on \u2014\u00a0to the heavens, to the cosmos, to the stars. God speed you, on this next voyage, Jim Lovell.”
\nRon Howard, who directed Apollo 13, also shared a tribute for Lovell on Instagram. The filmmaker shared a carousel of photos and clips of the astronaut, as well as side-by-side photos from real life and the film, and wrote, “RIP #CommanderLovell. Navy test pilot, Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 and, of course, Apollo 13.”
\nHoward added, “Simply knowing Jim has been a tremendous honor. His combination of intellect, courage and commitment to duty made him one of the most remarkable individuals I\u2019ve ever met. His support of our movie-making efforts inspired authenticity and elevated our process in so many ways.Thank you, sir, for your service to our country and to humankind.”
\nKnown as Jim, the Cleveland, Ohio-born NASA commander and former Navy test pilot flew four space missions. In 2010, he described the Apollo 13 mission as a \u201csuccessful failure\u201d in an interview with Reuters. Its outcome was “a great success in the ability of people to take an almost-certain catastrophe and turn it into a successful recovery.”
\nIn 2023, Hanks narrated The Moonwalkers: A Journey With Tom Hanks, an immersive exhibit at London\u2019s Lightroom. At the time, he told The Telegraph that he\u2019d love to participate in a lunar mission. \u201cI would like to be the guy in charge of serving food and making jokes to and from the moon,\u201d he quipped. \u201cIf there was room, I would be the guy that cleans up, makes jokes, tells stories and keeps everybody entertained.\u201d
\nNever miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
\nThis year, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Apollo 13, the movie will be re-released in IMAX theaters starting Sept. 19. The movie was adapted by William Broyles Jr. and Al Reinert from Lost Moon, the 1994 non-fiction book by Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger. The Oscar-winning movie costarred Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris and Kathleen Quinlan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tom Hanks posted a tribute on social media to James Lovell, who died on Aug. 7 Lovell was a NASA astronaut known for commanding the troubled Apollo 13 mission … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33643"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33645,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33643\/revisions\/33645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}