Tom Hanks Pays Tribute to ‘Apollo 13’ Astronaut Jim Lovell: ‘God Speed You, on This Next Voyage’

Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.Generate Key TakeawaysTom Hanks and astronaut Jim Lovell during a visit to the White House in 1995. - Credit: Wally McNamee/Corbis via Getty Images

Tom Hanks paid tribute to Jim Lovell, the astronaut he portrayed in Apollo 13, following news of Lovell’s death Friday at the age of 97.

“There are people who dare, who dream, and who lead others to the places we would not go on our own. Jim Lovell, who for a long while had gone farther into space and for longer than any other person of our planet, was that kind of guy,” Hanks wrote on social media.

More from Rolling Stone

Trump Super PAC Raises $200 Million From Elon Musk and People Who Want Stuff From Him

Man Afraid to Ride Subway Named Head of NASA

Wes Anderson's 'The Phoenician Scheme' Is One of His Best

“His many voyages around Earth and on to so-very-close to the moon were not made for riches or celebrity, but because such challenges as those are what fuels the course of being alive – and who better than Jim Lovell to make those voyages.”

AdvertisementAdvertisement#_R_1a3ckr8lb2mav5ubsddbH1_ iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#_R_2a3ckr8lb2mav5ubsddbH1_ iframe

Lovell, who was among the first astronauts to orbit the Moon as part of the Apollo 8 mission in 1968, was immortalized on the big screen in director Ron Howard’s Best Picture Oscar-nominated 1995 film Apollo 13, which retold the story of the ship’s aborted 1970 lunar mission and how Lovell — as the mission commander, played by Hanks —and his crew made their way back to Earth after an oxygen tank explosion disabled their electrical and life support systems.

NASA also paid tribute to Lovell, “whose life and work inspired millions of people across the decades. Jim’s character and steadfast courage helped our nation reach the Moon and turned a potential tragedy into a success from which we learned an enormous amount.”

“From a pair of pioneering Gemini missions to the successes of Apollo, Jim helped our nation forge a historic path in space that carries us forward to upcoming Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond,” NASA’s statement added. “As the Command Module Pilot for Apollo 8, Jim and his crewmates became the first to lift off on a Saturn V rocket and orbit the Moon, proving that the lunar landing was within our reach. As commander of the Apollo 13 mission, his calm strength under pressure helped return the crew safely to Earth and demonstrated the quick thinking and innovation that informed future NASA missions.

Hanks’ tribute concluded Friday, “On this night of a full Moon, he passes on – to the heavens, to the cosmos, to the stars. God speed you, on this next voyage, Jim Lovell.”

Best of Rolling Stone

The 50 Best 'Saturday Night Live' Characters of All Time

Denzel Washington’s Movies Ranked, From Worst to Best

70 Greatest Comedies of the 21st Century

Sign up for RollingStone's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.