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Jim Lovell Facts & Worksheets

Jim Lovell is an American astronaut who made history as one of the first three to fly to and orbit the Moon.

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James Arthur Lovell Jr., famously known as Jim Lovell, was an American astronaut (now retired), an aviator in the navy, and a mechanical engineer from Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. He made history as one of the first three astronauts to fly to and orbit the Moon. He was the commander of the Apollo 13 flight to the Moon in 1970.

See the fact file below for more information on Jim Lovell, or you can download our 26-page Jim Lovell worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION

  • James Arthur Lovell Jr. was born on March 25, 1928.
  • His birthplace and hometown is Cleveland, Ohio, United States. 
  • James Arthur Lovell Sr, his father, was born in Canada and worked in Ontario as a coal furnace salesman. 
  • James Sr. died in a car accident in 1944. 
  • Jim’s mother, Blanche Masek Lovell, was of Czech descent.
  • After his father died, Jim and his mother lived with a relative in Terre Haute, Indiana, for two years before moving to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
  • During his childhood, Lovell became a part of the Boy Scouts.
  • Lovell later achieved Eagle Scout level, the highest in the Boy Scouts.
  • As a boy, he developed a curiosity for rocketry; he even built flying models during his teenage years.
  • Lovell graduated from Juneau High School, a public school in Wisconsin. 
  • He attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he studied from 1946 to 1948.
  • He also played football and became a member of the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity. 
  • Lovell studied under the “Flying Midshipman” program that trained students to become naval aviators. 
  • In the summer of 1948, however, the cadets were pressured to transfer out of the program since the navy started to make budget cuts.
  • Because of that,  Lovell applied to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, during the fall of 1948 and was accepted. 
  • Lovell wrote a treatise about the liquid-propellant rocket engine in his first year at Annapolis.
  • Lovell spent four years studying at Annapolis, and in 1952, he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree. 
  • After graduating from the United States Naval Academy, he went to NAS (Naval Air Station) Pensacola in Florida to attend flight training; he trained from October 1952 to February 1954.
  • He was consequently selected, with 49 graduates in his class, for naval aviation training.

US NAVAL AVIATOR

  • On February 1, 1954, Lovell was appointed a naval aviator after completing his pilot training.
  • He was assigned to squadron VC-3 located at Moffett Field in California. 
  • For two years until 1956, he flew F2H-3 Banshee night fighters.
  • Lovell enlisted in a six-month test-pilot training course in January 1958 at the Naval Air Test Center, where he graduated at the top of the class. 
  • In late 1958, Lovell and his classmates, Pete Conrad and Wally Schirra, were selected as potential astronaut candidates for Project Mercury, the first human spaceflight program in the United States.
  • Lovell failed to pass the program because of a temporary high bilirubin count in his blood. 
  • He completed Aviation Safety School at the University of Southern California in 1961. 

CAREER AT NASA

  • Lovell applied to become part of the Gemini and Apollo program’s second group in 1962.
  • He was accepted into the NASA Astronaut group 2, also called “The Next Nine.”
  • His classmate Pete Conrad was also accepted into the program.
  • For the mission Gemini 4, Lovell was selected as a backup pilot; this was his first flight in space. 
  • He became the pilot of Gemini 7 in December 1965. 

GEMINI 7 MISSION

  • As part of NASA’s Gemini program, the mission of Gemini 7 was to find out the effects of space flight on the crew and the spacecraft after fourteen days in orbit.
  • Frank Borman and Jim Lovell led a crew that spent almost 14 days in space.
  • Gemini 7 successfully returned from orbit on December 18, 1965.
  • Having completed 206 orbits, the 14-day flight set a new endurance record at the time.
  • Lovell also became the backup commander of Gemini 9A.

GEMINI 12 MISSION

  • Lovell’s second flight and first command happened in the Gemini 12 (stylized Gemini XII) mission in November 1966.
  • History-making astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin was onboard the mission and completed three periods of extravehicular activity.
  • The mission proved that astronauts could work effectively outside of a spacecraft.
  • Gemini 12 was crucial in the preparations for the Apollo program to achieve its objective of landing a man on the Moon by the end of the 1960s.

APOLLO MISSIONS

  • In 1968, Lovell became a command module pilot on the backup crew of Apollo 8.
  • The Apollo 8 mission was launched on December 21, 1968.
  • Lovell, along with crewmates Frank Borman and William Anders, became the first to travel to the Moon and ride the Saturn V rocket.
  • Lovell was appointed the backup commander of the Apollo 11 mission.
  • Frank was the commander of Apollo 8.
  • In 1970, he commanded the Apollo 13 mission.
  • The mission lifted off under Lovell’s command on April 11 of that year. 
  • The flight experienced a failure and circled the Moon; however, they managed to return to Earth safely on April 17.
  • Lovell was able to achieve the farthest distance that humans have traveled from Earth based on Apollo 13’s flight trajectory.

HONORS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  • As a part of the Apollo 8 mission, James Arthur Lovell Jr. became one of the first three humans to fly and orbit the Moon. 
  • He was the first person to fly in space four times. 
  • He was also the first person to fly to the Moon twice.
  • Lovell is a recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1970.
  • Lovell was also a co-author of the book “Lost Moon” in 1994.

PERSONAL LIFE

  • Lovell married Marilyn Lillie Gerlach after he graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1952.
  • Marilyn Lillie was Lovell’s high school sweetheart as they both attended Juneau High in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 
  • While Lovell was training at Annapolis, Marilyn transferred from Wisconsin Teachers College to George Washington University in Washington D.C., so the two could live near each other. 
  • Lovell and Marilyn have four children: Barbara, James, Susan, and Jeffrey. 
  • Lovell retired from the Navy and the space program in 1973.
  • The Lovell family opened a fine dining restaurant named Lovell’s of Lake Forest in Lake Forest, Illinois, in 1999.
  • Lovell served on the board of directors for a number of organizations, including the Astronautics Corporation of America.

Jim Lovell Worksheets

This fantastic bundle includes everything you need to know about Jim Lovell across 26 in-depth pages. These ready-to-use worksheets are perfect for teaching kids about Jim Lovell, an American astronaut who made history as one of the first three to fly to and orbit the Moon.

Jim lLovell worksheets: key glossary
Jim Lovell worksheets: life story
Jim Lovell worksheets: true or false

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

  • Jim Lovell Facts
  • Key Glossary
  • Lovell’s Life Story
  • True or False?
  • NASA Timeline
  • Inspiring Quotes
  • Fellow Astronauts
  • Mission News
  • Creative Storytelling
  • A Letter to Lovell
  • Traits To Emulate

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Jim Lovell?

James Arthur “Jim” Lovell Jr. is a retired astronaut and former naval aviator of the United States Navy, and a retired test pilot of the United States Air Force. He is a former NASA astronaut who flew on four Space Shuttle missions, including as commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission in 1970.

What were Jim Lovell’s missions?

Lovell flew on four NASA missions as a pilot or commander: Gemini 7 (1965), Gemini 12 (1966), Apollo 8 (1968), and Apollo 13 (1970). He is known for his role as the commander of the Apollo 13 mission which was intended to land on the Moon, but an oxygen tank explosion en route caused a failure of the spacecraft’s propulsion and life support systems, and the crew had to return safely to Earth using the lunar module as a “lifeboat”.

Did Jim Lovell ever walk on the Moon?

No, Jim Lovell never walked on the Moon. Despite being the commander of Apollo 13, the mission was aborted before reaching the lunar surface.

What did Jim Lovell do after his NASA career?

After his NASA career, Lovell became a businessman, serving as executive vice president of Bay-Houston Towing Company, and later president of Lovell Communications, a public relations and marketing company. He also wrote a book about his experiences called “Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13” which was later adapted into the film “Apollo 13”.

Is Jim Lovell still alive?

As of January 2021, Jim Lovell is still alive. He is now in his 90s, and retired from public life.

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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