Al appeared on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (a popular children’s US TV show) 11 times, the first being filmed just before his launch. Fred wanted to teach children about fathers leaving the house to go down to the store, leaving in the morning to go to work, or going on a trip. This was a perfect match – Dad is going to the moon for two weeks. As a father himself, Al related to this.
It was so outside of what most astronauts did, many thought I was crazy. Astronauts liked to think they were superjocks who hunted, fished, drank, and chased girls. We didn’t do kiddies’ shows. They particularly made fun of me when I carefully navigated the inevitable “How do you go to the bathroom in space?” question. But I loved the final result, and Deke got a good laugh out of watching it. Most importantly, kids loved it.”
al worden
falling to earth
While ‘Mister Rogers Meets an Astronaut’ is not yet available on DVD, we encourage you to seek out the published episodes available through The Fred Rogers Company web site, the PBS Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood site, and on online book stores such as Amazon.Com
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