James A. Lovell, the astronaut known for serving as commander of the Apollo 13 mission, died Thursday, Aug. 7, in Lake Forest, Ill. He was 97.

James Lovell, the commander of Apollo 13 who helped turn a failed moon mission into a triumph of on-the-fly can-do engineering, has died. He was 97. Lovell died Thursday in Lake Forest, Illinois, NASA said in a statement on Friday.

Lovell's "life and work inspired millions of people across the decades," said NASA Administrator Sean Duffy in a statement.