Happy birthday, Gemini and Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell!

Jim Lovell, born March 25, 1928 in Cleveland, Ohio, made two flights in NASA's Gemini program and two in the Apollo program, including the Apollo 13 mission.  He was the first person to go into space four times, is one of twenty-four people to fly to the moon, and one of three people to fly to the moon twice, although he did not make a landing.

His first mission was pilot on Gemini VII with Command Pilot Frank Borman in December 1965, and they spent 14 days in orbit.

His second flight was as Commander of Gemini XII with pilot Buzz Aldrin in November 1966. They performed three EVAs and conducted the fourth space docking with the Agena target vehicle, proving men could work outside a spacecraft, which paved the way for sending men to the moon.

His third flight was on Apollo 8 as Command Module Pilot with Frank Borman and William Anders in December 1968.  It was the second manned mission of the Apollo program and the first to leave Earth's orbit, reach the moon, orbit it and then return safely to Earth.

Lovell's fourth and final flight was as Commander aboard Apollo 13, with Jack Swigert and Fred Haise in April 1970.  The disaster that occurred during the mission has been immortalized in the movie Apollo 13.  Tom Hanks portrayed Jim Lovell in the movie.  Lovell is the one who uttered the famous phrase:  "Houston, we've had a problem."

Gemini XII launches 1966

James Lovell and Buzz Aldrin blasted off in Gemini XII November 11, 1966, the final mission of the Gemini project.  Aldrin performed three EVA's, proving that a person could work effectively outside the spacecraft.  The success of  the mission paved the way for the Apollo mission.

And they got to observe a solar eclipse from space.  How cool is that!?

Apollo 7 launched 1968 - Mutiny in Space!

Apollo 7 Crew: Don F. Eisele, Walter M. Schirra, R. Walter Cunningham

Apollo 7, launched October 11, 1968, was the first manned mission of the Apollo program and the first time the U.S. sent men into space since Gemini XII in 1966.  The fire that killed Apollo 1's crew put the space program on hold for almost two years.

Shortly after launch, Commander Schirra began to experience symptoms of a cold.  In zero-gravity, it is much harder to expel mucous from the sinuses.  As with virtually everyone else, being sick puts us in a grouchy mood, and that's what happened to Schirra.  Then his foul mood brought the rest of the crew down and they started snipping at Mission Control.  Although the mission was considered a success, it has been since dubbed "mutiny in space" because of the tensions between the crew and Mission Control.

Gemini XII launched in 1966

Gemini XII, the last mission of the Gemini project, launched on November 11, 1966 with astronauts "Buzz" Aldrin and Jim Lovell.  They splashed down on November 15 and NASA moved onto the Apollo missions.