NASA said Friday that James “Jim” Lovell, the veteran astronaut who commanded the troubled 1970 Apollo 13 mission, died on 7 August in Lake Forest, Illinois, at the age of 97. Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy praised Lovell’s “character and steadfast courage,” noting that his leadership during Apollo 13 turned a near-catastrophe into an enduring example of ingenuity and teamwork. Lovell flew four times in space—Gemini VII, Gemini XII, Apollo 8 and Apollo 13—logging about 715 hours in orbit and becoming the first person to reach space on four occasions. As command-module pilot on Apollo 8, he and his crewmates were the first humans to orbit the Moon. Two years later, an oxygen-tank explosion crippled Apollo 13 roughly 200,000 miles from Earth; Lovell’s calm direction and the efforts of Mission Control brought the crew home safely. After retiring from NASA and the U.S. Navy in 1973, Lovell co-wrote the memoir “Lost Moon,” the basis for the Oscar-winning 1995 film “Apollo 13.” Actor Tom Hanks, who portrayed him on screen, hailed Lovell as a pioneer who “dared, dreamed and led others.” Among numerous honors, Lovell received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1995 and has a lunar crater that bears his name.