#spaceexploration – by @astro.kenzie on Instagram
Astronaut Jim Lovell being hoisted into the Apollo 11 command module on March 24, 1969. He served as the backup commander for this legendary mission. Interesting fact: when Deke Slayton pulled Neil Armstrong from mission control on December 23, 1968, where he was serving as the capcom for this mission, they at first were considering having Lovell as the lunar module pilot for Apollo 11, and would have landed on the Moon with Neil. Yet after some more discussion, they considered him to be of commander material rather than a lunar module pilot, and decided that it would be best if he served as the prime commander on a later lunar landing. Unfortunately, the lunar landing which he was assigned to command was aborted due to an oxygen tank rupture in the service module en route to the Moon, and he never got the chance to land on the Moon. I wonder what would have occurred if Neil and Deke had allowed him to walk on the Moon for the first time along with Neil. Have a great day.