CHICAGO (WLS) — One of the world’s most legendary explorers, James Lovell, spoke with ABC7 on Saturday about the honor of December 21 being named Captain James Lovell Day in Illinois.

The honor has been a long time coming for the 96-year-old, who is now being recognized for his incredible contribution because of the efforts of two Illinois state senators.

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Lovell began his career in aviation as a navy pilot before being chosen by NASA in 1962.

As an astronaut, Lovell had several missions that make up the fabric of historic firsts.

He was a part of the Gemini 12 mission, which was the first rendezvous of the two-manned maneuverable spacecraft, as well as his favorite mission, Apollo 8, where he and his fellow crewmen became the first humans to leave earth’s gravitational pull and orbit the moon.

But Lovell is best remembered as commander of the Apollo 13 mission, where an oxygen tank exploded two days after the launch, depleting oxygen and power inside the command module odyssey.

The mishap sparked a rush to rescue the crew stranded more than 200,000 miles from home and the remarks of Lovell were made famous in the 1995 “Apollo 13” movie starring Tom Hanks.

Lovell’s heroics were celebrated as the trio returned safely to earth.

Now, Lovell resides quietly in Chicago’s north suburbs, remembering his career as an explorer.

And while he managed to accomplish so much, he wishes he could have gone to Mars.

Artifacts from his many travels are housed at the Adler Planetarium, as are his many dreams of future space exploration as he continues to look to the stars.

From the moment the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff bracket was revealed, a debate raged over who was and wasn’t included in the field.

Should SMU, despite a loss to Clemson in the ACC championship game, have earned the final at-large berth over Alabama? Was Indiana, even with a gaudy 11-1 record, worthy of a spot despite what ended up being a softer-than-expected schedule in the Big Ten?

The start of playoff games this week didn’t end those arguments. If anything, it only intensified them.

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The Hoosiers and Mustangs both suffered double-digit, largely lopsided road losses in the first round of the playoff. On Friday night, No. 10 seed Indiana fell to No. 7 seed Notre Dame 27-17 in a game it trailed by 24 with two minutes remaining while No. 11 seed SMU was drubbed by No. 6 Penn State 38-10 Saturday afternoon.

People from across the country who follow the sport — broadcasters, writers, analysts and even coaches — reacted to the results, with some using them as a justification for their belief that the playoff selection committee made mistakes on who it allowed in the field. Many of the loudest complaints came from the SEC, which had the second-most teams in the field, with three, but had three three-loss teams — Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina — among the first teams left out of the playoff.

Here’s a sampling of the reaction to Indiana and SMU’s CFP losses:

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Social media reacts to Indiana, SMU College Football Playoff losses

Indiana and SMU losing their College Football Playoff games by a combined 38 points in dominant fashion raised a variety of opinions, with some believing it to be an indictment of the playoff committee for selecting the Hoosiers and Mustangs for the final two at-large spots.

Others, though, countered with an argument that Indiana and SMU had pieced together playoff-worthy resumes and deserved to make the field, regardless of how they fared in their games this week.

Lane Kiffin trolls CFP committee

The loudest, or at least most prominent, voice piling on Indiana and SMU’s struggles was Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, whose squad was the third team left out of the playoff.

Many, however, rightfully pointed out that Kiffin’s 9-3 Rebels team could have made the playoff had it simply won at home against a 4-8 Kentucky team that managed only one victory in SEC play this season.