American astronaut Jim Lovell, commander of the failed 1970 mission to the moon that nearly ended in disaster but became an inspirational saga of survival and the basis for the hit movie "Apollo 13," has died at the age of 97,

He led the three-man crew that survived a near catastrophic explosion in space in 1970, and was later immortalized by Tom Hanks in the movie “Apollo 13.”

Tom Hanks is remembering late astronaut Jim Lovell, whom he portrayed in the Oscar-winning film “Apollo 13,” as among the rare humans “who lead others to the places we would not