How many times did James Lovell go into space?

Answer 1

James Lovell flew 4 space missions.

Gemini 7 - Lovell was the Pilot, Frank Borman was the commander. They launched on December 4, 1965. Their main mission was to see if man could survive 14 days in space. Gemini 5 held the previous record at 8 days. 14 days is nothing to us today, but back then it was a huge accomplishment. Gemini 6 was supposed to dock with an unmanned Agena vehicle, but the Agena failed to reach orbit. Since Gemini 7 was to launch in 2 months, it was decided to make Gemini 7 the target for a rendezvous with Gemini 6. Gemini 6 & 7 performed the first docking in space.

Gemini 12 - Lovell was the Commander. He flew with Buzz Aldrin on the last Gemini mission. During their 3 day mission, which launced on November 11, 1066, Aldrin completed the first successful working Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA), otherwise known as a spacewalk. Prior attempts were thwarted by lack of proper restraints and training. Aldrin was able to overcome those obstacles by combining his love of Scuba diving with his traininig. Aldrin became the second man to walk on the moon when he landed with Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11.

Apollo 8 - Was Lovell's second flight with Borman. Apollo 8 launched on December 22, 1968. They were joined on their 8 day flight by Bill Anders. Lovell was not origiinally scheduled to fly Apollo 8. He was the backup, but when Michael Collins needed surgery on his neck, he was replaced by Lovell. Apollo 8 was the first manned mission to the moon. Collins was the CAPCOM, or Capsule Communicator during Apollo 8. In fact it was Collins who gave the Apollo 8 astronauts the "Go for TLI", which meant they could fire their rocket to take them out of earth orbit and head for the moon. Apollo 8 was Borman's last space mission and Anders' only space mission.

Apollo 13 - Lovell was to become the 5th man to walk on the moon. Apollo 13 launched on April 11, 1970 at 1:13PM in the afternoon. Lovell was joined on the flight by Jack Swigert (Command Module Pilot) and Fred Haise (Lunar Module Pilot). Haise was to land on the moon with Lovell, but when an oxygen tank exploded halfway to the moon, the landing was cancelled. In order to preserve the batteries required for reentry back to earth, all electrical power was shut off, including the heaters. The temperature in the cabin of the Command Module dropped to below freezing. 3 astronauts had nothing to keep them warm, but their overalls. NASA came up with a plan to use the Lunar Module (LM) as a lifeboat. The LM was designed to support 2 astronauts for 2 days on the lunar surface. NASA had to find a way to make the oxygen and electrical supplies to support 3 astronauts for 3 days. By working long hours, they managed to figure out a way around all the many problems the astronauts faced. They retured to earth on April 17th after 6 days in space. Apollo 13 was the shortest Apollo mission.

James Lovell announced before Apollo 13 that he would be leaving NASA following the flight. Haise went on to fly the landing test missions for the Space Shuttle. He was scheduled to command the second Shuttle mission, but he retired 3 years before the first Shuttle flight. Apollo 13 was Swigert's only space mission.