Posted on 04/06/2026 2:44:45 PM PDT by Ciaphas Cain
Artemis II astronauts got a special wake-up message from legendary astronaut Jim Lovell, the late commander for the Apollo 13 mission, which he recorded before he died at age 97 last year.
"Hello Artemis II! this is Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell," he says in the message. "Welcome to my old neighborhood. When Frank Borman and Bill Andrews and I orbited the moon on Apollo 8, we got humanity's first up close look at the moon and got a view of the home planet that inspired and united people around the world. I'm proud to pass that torch on to you as you swing around the moon and lay the groundwork for missions to Mars, for the benefit of all. It's a historic day, and I know how busy you'll be, but don't forget to enjoy the view. So, Reid and Victor and Christina and Jeremy, and all the great teams are supporting you, good luck and Godspeed from all of us here on the good Earth."
Just before 1 p.m. CT, the Artemis II crew broke the record for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth, surpassing Lovell and his Apollo 13 crew's 248,655 miles in 1970.
NASA said Lovell recorded the wakeup message for the Artemis II crew just two months before his death last year.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
So did my buddy Charlie Duke.
What NASA should have also done during the launch, was have Gene Kranz in Mission Control. That would have been a great moment.
As a kid I was able to run all over JSC. I knew Chris Kraft and countless NASA engineers who worked on Gemini and Apollo. When I hear people say we did not go to the moon I laugh.
Who taught this person to write? It would have been very difficult for him to have recorded the message AFTER he died
That should be Bill Anders, not Andrews. Anders died in 2024 in a plane crash at the age of 90. He was flying the plane.
He’s teasing.
Apologies. Thought you were responding to a tease and not to the original article.
An American aviation and astronaut success story that every young student in America should read about.
Contrast Commander Lovell's successes and classy post-mortem words to the anti-military (thus anti-American), retired astronaut, Mark Kelly's icky Jane Fondian appeal for current U. S. Military folks to question orders (as they just might give DJT a win).
Mark Kelly, the Dr. Evil look-a-like and the Jane Fonda acolyte.
I had the high pleasure of having lunch with Jim Lovel a number of years ago. He could not have been a nicer, more interesting person. It was a major memory of my life.
I had the high pleasure of having lunch with Jim Lovel a number of years ago. He could not have been a nicer, more interesting person. It was a major memory of my life.
Then login to X when you need a laugh. That is the overwhelming opinion on that garbage platform.
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