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  • Navigating
    at Sea
    • Challenges of Sea Navigation
    • Navigating Without a Clock
    • The Longitude Problem
    • The U.S. Goes to Sea
    • Navigate at Sea! Activity
  • Navigating
    in the Air
    • Challenges of Air Navigation
    • Early Air Navigators
    • Navigation at War
    • Navigate the Skies! Activity
  • Navigating
    in Space
    • Challenges of Space Navigation
    • Reaching for the Moon
    • Navigating in Deep Space
    • Navigate in Space! Activity
  • Satellite Navigation
    • Challenges of Satellite Navigation
    • Reliable Global Navigation
    • Global Positioning System (GPS)
    • Who Uses Satellite Navigation
  • Navigation
    for Everyone
    • Meet a Professional Navigator
    • Personal Navigation Stories
  • Timeline of Innovation
  • Artifacts
  • Learning Resources
  • Multimedia Gallery
  • Research
  • Visit the Exhibition

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Time and Navigation Home
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Time and Navigation
The untold story of getting from here to there.
Home

Search form

  • Navigating at Sea
  • Navigating in the Air
  • Navigating in Space
  • Satellite Navigation
  • Navigation for Everyone
  • Timeline of Innovation
  • Artifacts
  • Learning Resources
  • Multimedia Gallery
  • Research Journal
  • Visit the Exhibition
  • Challenges of Space Navigation
    • Navigation Gone Wrong: Mariner 1
    • Navigate in Space! Activity
  • Reaching for the Moon
    • First Attempts
    • Hitting the Moon
    • Human Steps
      • Meet the Navigator: James A. Lovell, Jr.
  • Navigating in Deep Space
    • Gravity Assist
    • Radio Network
    • Visiting Other Worlds
    • Meet the Navigator: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  • Navigate in Space! Activity

Did You Know?

Former NASA astronaut James Lovell appeared in the movie version of his famous Apollo 13 mission. He has an unaccredited role as Leland Kirkemo, captain of the USS Iwo Jima, the ship that recovered the astronauts and the command module Odyssey on splashdown.

Explore More

Mariner 10 »
Opportunity Rover on Mars »
The Moon, from Ranger 7 »
Landing Ellipse for the Curiosity Rover Mars mission »
Earth Lights at Night »
Meet The Navigator

James A. Lovell, Jr.

James Lovell navigated to the Moon and back twice.

He served as command module pilot on Apollo 8, the first mission to the Moon, and as spacecraft commander on Apollo 13, the aborted lunar landing mission.

All three astronauts helped navigate the Apollo 8 spacecraft, but Lovell was responsible for getting it to the Moon and back. Among the tools Lovell used was a sextant, much like those once used by mariners at sea.

With the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, Lovell became the only astronaut to orbit the Moon twice without landing. (John Young and Gene Cernan went twice, but both walked on the Moon).

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James A. Lovell, Jr.
James Lovell looks through the telescope in the Apollo 8 command module.
Credit: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution

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Portrait of James A. Lovell, Jr.
James Lovell was an Apollo astronaut who navigated to the Moon and back twice.
Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) via National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution

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Apollo 8 Astronauts James A. Lovell, Jr., William A. Anders, and Frank Bowman
Left to right: Apollo 8 astronauts James A. Lovell Jr., William A. Anders, and Frank Borman.
Credit: Courtesy of NASA
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  • Navigating at Sea
    • Challenges of Sea Navigation
    • Navigating Without a Clock
    • The Longitude Problem
    • The U.S. Goes to Sea
    • Navigate at Sea! Activity
  • Navigating in the Air
    • Challenges of Air Navigation
    • Early Air Navigators
    • Navigation at War
    • Navigate the Skies! Activity
  • Navigating in Space
    • Challenges of Space Navigation
    • Reaching for the Moon
      • First Attempts
      • Hitting the Moon
      • Human Steps
        • Meet the Navigator: James A. Lovell, Jr.
    • Navigating in Deep Space
    • Navigate in Space! Activity
  • Satellite Navigation
    • Challenges of Satellite Navigation
    • Reliable Global Navigation
    • Global Positioning System (GPS)
    • Who Uses Satellite Navigation
  • Navigation for Everyone
    • Meet a Professional Navigator
    • Personal Navigation Stories
  • Timeline of Innovation
  • Artifacts
  • Learning Resources
  • Multimedia Gallery
  • Research
  • Visit the Exhibition
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  • Privacy
  • Contact
  • Sponsors
  • Press
  • Donate
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