Apollo 13 captain who announced 'Houston, we have a problem' dies at age 97

Jim Lovell guided crew of three back to Earth after an oxygen tank explosion crippled Moon mission capsule

Jim Lovell, the Apollo 13 astronaut who helped guide his crew home after their spacecraft suffered an oxygen tank explosion in 1970. He died on August 7 at the age of 97. Photo: Nasa

Jim Lovell, the US astronaut who led the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission and helped guide its crew safely back to Earth after a mid-flight explosion, died at the age of 97 on Thursday.

Mr Lovell was at the centre of one of Nasa’s most dramatic episodes when an oxygen tank on the spacecraft exploded on April 13, 1970, two days after launch.

The mission was meant to be the third crewed landing on the Moon, but the explosion damaged its power and life-support systems.

“Houston, we’ve had a problem,” Mr Lovell told mission control in words that have since become part of space-flight history. The phrase was later popularised as “Houston, we have a problem”.

Tributes from space community

Tributes to Mr Lovell came from Nasa, former astronauts and wider space community after his death was announced on Friday.

Nasa acting administrator Sean Duffy said in a statement that the agency sent its condolences to the family of Mr Lovell, “whose life and work inspired millions of people across the decade”.

“Jim’s character and steadfast courage helped our nation reach the Moon and turned a potential tragedy into a success from which we learnt an enormous amount,” he said.

“We mourn his passing even as we celebrate his achievements.”

Dr Buzz Aldrin, the second person to work on the Moon, said that was he was “grieving the loss of one of my best friends”.

“Our mutual respect had no limits. The Gemini XII mission we flew together paved the way for the Apollo missions. Heartfelt condolences to Jim’s family. Farewell Jim. You will be missed, my friend. Godspeed,” he said.

Impressive career

After the explosion aboard the Apollo 13 mission, Mr Lovell and his crewmates, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise, worked with engineers on the ground over the next four days to come up with solutions.

They conserved power, repurposed spacecraft systems and navigated a complex return trajectory that brought them home to a safe splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on April 17.

The episode was later described by Nasa as a “successful failure” because, while the original mission was lost, the crew’s survival was more important.

Mr Lovell’s space career spanned four missions, including two to the Moon, though he landed on the surface.

He was command module pilot of Apollo 8 in 1968, the first mission to orbit the Moon, giving humanity its first close-up views of the lunar surface and the famous Earthrise photograph taken by William Anders.

The Apollo 13 crew capsule photographed while in space. Photo: Nasa

Earlier, he flew on Gemini 7 and Gemini 12, pioneering the rendezvous, docking and spacewalking techniques that were essential in the Apollo programme.

After retiring from Nasa and the US Navy in 1973, Mr Lovell co-wrote the memoir Lost Moon, which became the basis for the 1995 film Apollo 13.

Actor Tom Hanks portrayed him on screen, and Mr Lovell made a cameo appearance in the film.

Mr Lovell is survived by his four children. His wife, Marilyn, who he was married to for almost 70 years, died in 2023.