‘God speed you on this next voyage’: Tom Hanks remembers late astronaut Jim Lovell

Tom Hanks, who played astronaut Jim Lovell in the 1995 movie Apollo 13, has honored him following his death on August 7, 2025. Lovell, the astronaut and commander of the Apollo 13 mission, passed away at age 97 in Lake Forest, IL, according to his daughter-in-law.

Hanks shared a statement on Instagram, praising the late NASA commander:

"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."

The 69-year-old actor continued:

"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."

Hanks concluded his heartfelt message for the NASA commander:

"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."

Who was Jim Lovell, and what was Apollo 13 about?

Jim Lovell was the commander of the ill-fated spacecraft bound for the moon in April 1970. After suffering an explosion in space, Lovell and the other astronauts safely returned to Earth. Captain Lovell has the most flying hours — 715 hours — of any astronaut in the early Mercury, Apollo, and Gemini space programs of the 1960s.

He was one of the three pilots aboard Apollo 8 and participated in two Gemini missions that orbited Earth. Apollo 13 was a mission to land Captain Lovell and Fred W. Haise Jr. on the moon while John L. Swigert, the third member, orbited in the spaceship pending their return.

They were also to explore the highland Fra Mauro for new information on the moon. The capsule had flown for more than 50 hours before it was damaged. The crew members had no choice but to use the lunar lander as their escape back home. Their bravery and hope in such deadly circumstances resulted in movie recreations of the iconic moment.

Captain Lovell was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1970. In 1955, he was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

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