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 of Apollo 13 fame died at 97; his leadership is celebrated for averting a lunar mission disaster, marking an end to an era of early US space exploration.

Jim Lovell, the legendary commander of the fateful Apollo 13 mission to the Moon, died on August 7 in Lake Forest, Illinois at the age of 97. Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy said in a statement,