Tom Hanks is honoring the legacy of Jim Lovell , the legendary Apollo 13 commander he portrayed in the acclaimed 1995 film Apollo 13 .

Lovell, a decorated astronaut, died on Thursday, August 7 at the age of 97. Just hours after the news broke, Hanks, 69, shared a heartfelt tribute on Instagram. "There are people who dare, who dream, and who lead others to the places we would not go on our own. 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," he wrote.

The actor reflected on Lovell's historic missions in a text post, noting that "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

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