Astronaut Jim Lovell, commander of the Apollo 13 mission to the moon, died in Illinois, his family announced. Lovell, 97, flew on three other NASA missions.

Once America's most experienced astronaut, Apollo 13's Jim Lovell, who died at 97, was the first to visit the moon twice.

Jim Lovell died Friday at the age of 97, but for years he called north suburban Lake Forest home and forged a deep connection to Chicago's Adler Planetarium. Astronaut Jim Lovell circled the moon on Apollo 8 and helped bring Apollo 13 home safely despite a mishap far from Earth.