Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks honored James Lovell, the American astronaut he portrayed in “Apollo 13,” with a heartfelt Instagram tribute to his courage, curiosity and fortitude. Lovell died Thursday in Lake Forest, Illinois. He was 97 years old.
“There are people who dare, who dream, and who lead others to the places we would not go on our own,” Hanks wrote Friday. “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.
“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 - and who better than Jim Lovell to make those voyages,” he continued.
Lovell embarked on his NASA career long before tech billionaires or millennial pop stars were able to privately launch into space. He famously orbited the moon during the 1968 Apollo 8 mission and proved himself a hero while aboard Apollo 13 in 1970.
The voyage was initially intended to be a lunar landing, but when an oxygen tank exploded on board, the crew was forced to abandon the mission. As commander, Lovell saved his crew by using the lunar module as a near-freezing lifeboat back to Earth.
Hanks noted in his tribute that Lovell just so happened to die during one particular moon phase, and concluded Friday: “On this night of a full Moon, he passes on - to the heavens, to the cosmos, to the stars. God speed you, on this next voyage, Jim Lovell.”
Lovell received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor from then-President Bill Clinton in 1995, and told Conan O’Brien that he invited Hanks to his home before “Apollo 13” started filming — even letting him fly his airplane at night to help the actor more realistically portray being a pilot.
The actor wasn’t the only Oscar winner to commemorate Lovell. “Apollo 13” director Ron Howard shared a carousel of photos Friday on Instagram with a tribute of his own, writing in the caption that merely knowing Lovell “has been a tremendous honor.”
“His combination of intellect, courage and commitment to duty made him one of the most remarkable individuals I’ve ever met,” Howard wrote. “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.”