CSPAN3 Oral Histories NASA - James Lovell Interview July 13, 2024
So he came back. Now, you have to realize that al shepard was the ultimate politician. Very well respected, first flight he did, so he talked nasa into giving him talked them into giving him the very next flight, which was apollo 13. After he started working 13 and i was getting my crew together for 14, i think that the nasa hierarchy had second thoughts. They said, look, al has been grounded for eight or nine years, and youre going to give him the very next flight . He only made a 15 minute suborbital flight . Lets get serious about this thing. So deke said, okay, ill slip him one. So one day...
Source: archive.org