Astronaut Jim Lovell , whose history-making leadership as commander of a near-disastrous 1970 mission to the moon is one of the most celebrated tales of the U.S. space program and was chronicled in the hit Ron Howard film Apollo 13 , died Thursday in Illinois. He was 97.

His death was announced by his family and by NASA.

“We are enormously proud of his amazing life and career accomplishments, highlighted by his legendary leadership in pioneering human space flight,” the Lovell family said in a statement released by NASA. “But, to all of us, he was Dad, Granddad, and the Leader of our family. Most importantly, he was our Hero. We will miss his unshakeable optimism, his sense of humor, and the way he made each of us feel we could do the impossible. He was truly one of a kind.”

The A

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