Late Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell recorded wake-up message for Artemis II astronauts before his death
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.
Lovell, one of NASA's most traveled astronauts in its first decade, called north suburban Lake Forest, Ill., home for years before his death, and had a deep connection with Chicago's Adler Planetarium. He flew to the moon twice on Apollo 8 and Apollo 13, but never walked on its surface.
When he got back to Earth, he worked for a time in Houston, then in Chicago and then settled in Lake Forest after retiring. He opened his restaurant Lovell's of Lake Forest in 1999.
The Artemis crew is now in a lunar flyby, during which they're expected to see both the near and far asides of the moon and engage in intense lunar observation.
Artemis II is using the same maneuver that Apollo 13 did after its "Houston, we've had a problem" oxygen tank explosion wiped out any hope of a moon landing.
Known as a free-return lunar trajectory, this no-stopping-to-land route takes advantage of Earth and the moon's gravity, reducing the need for fuel. It's a celestial figure-eight that will put the astronauts on course for home, once they emerge from behind the moon Monday evening.
