Col. Alfred Merrill Worden was born in Jackson, Michigan, on February 7, 1932.
He received a bachelor of military science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1955 and master of science degrees in Astronautical and Aeronautical Engineering and Instrumentation Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1963. He also received an honorary doctorate of science in Astronautical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1971.
Courtesy of FrancisFrench.com
He received a bachelor of military science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1955 and master of science degrees in Astronautical and Aeronautical Engineering and Instrumentation Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1963. He also received an honorary doctorate of science in Astronautical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1971.
Al logged in excess of 4,000 hours flying time–which includes 2,500 hours in jets. Col. Worden was one of the 19 astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966, in the 5th group of astronauts selected. He served as a member of the astronaut support crew for the Apollo 9 flight and as backup command module pilot for the Apollo 12 flight. Worden served as command module pilot for Apollo 15, July 26 – August 7, 1971. His companions on the flight were David R. Scott, spacecraft commander, and James B. Irwin, lunar module commander.
©NASA
Apollo 15 was the ninth Apollo mission, the fourth manned lunar landing mission and the first to visit and explore the Moon’s Hadley Rille and Apennine Mountains, which are located on the southeast edge of Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains).
Apollo 15 achievements include:
- Largest payloads placed in earth and lunar orbits
- First scientific instrument module bay flown and operated on an Apollo spacecraft
- Longest lunar surface stay time (the lunar module, ‘Falcon’, remained on ground for 66 hours and 54 minutes)
- Longest lunar surface EVA (Scott and Irwin logged 18 hours and 35 minutes each during three excursions onto the lunar surface)
- Longest distance traversed on lunar surface
- First use of lunar roving vehicle
- First use of a lunar surface navigation device (mounted on Rover-1)
- First sub satellite launched in lunar orbit
- First EVA outside of Earth orbit
Col. Worden still holds a record for the furthest deep space EVA. During this EVA Worden logged 38 minutes in extravehicular activity outside the command module, ‘Endeavour’. In completing his three excursions to Endeavour’s scientific instrument module bay, Worden retrieved film cassettes from the panoramic and mapping cameras and reported his personal observations of the general condition of equipment housed there.
I put my feet in some foot restraints and stood up and just looked around. With just a slight turn of my head, I could see both the Earth and the Moon at the same time. An unbelievable sight!”
Apollo 15 concluded with a Pacific splashdown and subsequent recovery by the USS OKINAWA. In completing his space flight, Worden logged 295 hours and 11 minutes in space. During 1972-1973, Worden was Senior Aerospace Scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center, and from 1973 to 1975, he was chief of the Systems Study Division at Ames in California.
After retirement from active duty in 1975, Worden became President of Maris Worden Aerospace, Inc., and was Vice-President of BF Goodrich Aerospace Brecksville, Ohio, in addition to other positions within the aerospace and aviation industries.
He is the author of three books: In 1974 Al published ‘Hello Earth: Greetings from Endeavour’ which is a book of his poetry inspired by his flight on Apollo 15 and ‘I Want to know about a Flight to the Moon’, a children’s book. In 2011 he published his autobiography ‘Falling to Earth’ with co-author Francis French.
Worden has served multiple terms as Chairman of the Board for the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation in Florida.
In 2019 he launched the Al Worden Endeavour Scholarship Foundation with Kallman Worldwide Inc.
Al passed away in his sleep on 18th March 2020.