On The Space Show for Wednesday, 20 August 2025:

James (Jim) A. Lovell Jr (1928-2025) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot, and mechanical engineer. This two-part special episode of The Space Show celebrates the 97-year life of the Gemini 7 & 12 and Apollo 8 & 13 astronaut.

Largely told in his own words, hear how the flight of Apollo 8, which saw the first crewed mission to leave the Earth and orbit the Moon in 1968, became the highlight and pinnacle of his space career.

(Jim Lovell in conversation with TV reporter Ron Stone on 25 May 1999, at the NASA Oral History Unit, Johnson Space Centre, Clear Lake, Houston. Audio inserts courtesy of the Johnson Space Center)

Archibald MacLeish - Bubble of Blue Air

Further reading on Archibald MacLeish and his reflections on the Apollo voyages to the Moon:

• Riders on Earth Together, Brothers in Eternal Cold
• Fantastic Voyage: In the words of Archibald MacLeish LL.B. 1919.
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Turn Back Time:

The Flight of the Gemini 5 Mission, sixty years on.