Gerry Griffin

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, The Associated Press reported Friday. He was 97.

Gerry Griffin, one of four flight directors for Apollo 13 and later director of the Johnson Space Center, told KIRO Newsradio that Lovell was “one of his all-time favorite people.”

Stories and features from the news staff of KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM.