Famed Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell dies at 97-years-old

Just the News ^ | August 8, 2025 3:42pm Updated: August 8, 2025 3:49pm | Misty Severi

[NorthMountain]

astronauts are strictly adrenaline junkies.

For Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, they were all fighter pilots.

[GingisK]

they were all fighter pilots

Yes, adrenaline junkies.

[GingisK]

I’ve been by many to avoid playing Fooz Ball for money with a fighter pilot.

[Ancesthntr]

RIP, and condolences to his family and friends.

[MikelTackNailer]

Yes, we've seen it too often back when TV channels signed off, but I think this poem is appropriate for Cmdr. Lovell and all who've pushed the boundaries and became examples for the rest of us to strive for:

"Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun,
split clouds
and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of -

wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence.

Hovering there I've chased the shouting wind along
and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air.

"Up, up the long delirious burning blue

I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,

where never lark, or even eagle, flew;

and, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
the high untrespassed sanctity of space,

put out my hand
and touched
the face
of God."

[GingisK]

The best poem! I liked it when they used the F-104. It is a good tribute to Jim Lovell.

[38special]

Just The News should be called Just The Ads

[Ezekiel]

Here is Jim Lovell's portion of the Apollo 8 Genesis reading:

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Can you see this being issued today?

A: Yes, because there's a Torah principle and Hebrew language verb construction (re surety) rooted in doubling:

Genesis 41:32 And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

A: Yes, because

the good news is the vision people don't want -- the light shining in the darkness -- and the Apollo missions link right up to the recent death of the Prince of Darkness.

That's because among other things, the "final photograph" 1) was from the "Back to the Beginning" charity concert, 2) showed the doubled name on the amps which is also the name of the place that developed the Saturn V, same as the name of the Plan to rebuild Western Civilization. That was simply its name, regardless of what it did or didn't do. Love it or hate it,

the Marshall Plan has been described as "the launching of the Pax Americana" (Link)

(Final concert photo and street view of the DC* posted here yesterday)

MSFC's welcome center is also the place of the *Davidson Center, the house built for the Saturn V dynamic test vehicle. .

Location: Huntsville. Zip code 35805. It's even been shot at.

The .308 Winchester is considered a standard hunting cartridge in the United States. (Wikipedia)

"On May 3, 2012, an unknown person fired three .308 caliber bullets from Interstate 565 at the Davidson Center, breaking three windows. Two bullets struck SA-500D's third stage marring paint and leaving dents. No people were harmed.[48][49][50] The damage was repaired within two months.[51]"

SA-500D hangs in the main hall of the Davidson Center for Space Exploration, 2008

Here's a nice touch to cap this off:

The stamp is Scott No. 1371, and as per the shape of the Earth immortalized by Earthrise, the place of a skull (first 2 refs)--

"Κρανίου Τόπος" = 1371

[Ezekiel]

Frank Frederick Borman II (March 14, 1928 – November 7, 2023)

William Alison Anders (17 October 1933 – 7 June 2024)

James Arthur Lovell Jr. (/ˈlʌvəl/ ⓘ LUV-əl; March 25, 1928 – August 7, 2025)

Interesting that they all passed on a 7th, over 7 x 3 months (marking 7 months and then 14 months).

These were copied from their Wikipedia pages. The last crew member to pass has the added detail of the name pronunciation.

LUV-əl, as if to inform of the place of the stressed syllable, versus luv-EL.

🤔

As for tradition:

March 25:

From the earliest recorded history, the feast has been celebrated on 25 March, commemorating both the belief that the spring equinox was not only the day of God’s act of Creation but also the beginning of Christ’s redemption of that same Creation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Annunciation