84 Facts About Alfred Worden

Alfred Worden proved adept at flying fighter planes, and honed his skills, becoming a test pilot before his selection as a Group 5 astronaut in 1966.

Alfred Worden served on the support crew for Apollo 9 and the backup crew for Apollo 12 before his selection for the Apollo 15 crew in 1970, with David Scott as commander and James Irwin as lunar module pilot.

Alfred Worden took many photographs of the Moon and operated a suite of scientific instruments that probed the Moon.

Alfred Worden remained at NASA until 1975 at the Ames Research Center, then entered the private sector.

Alfred Worden engaged in a variety of business activities, and had a longtime involvement with the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, serving as chair of its board of directors from 2005 until 2011.

Alfred Worden made many public appearances, promoting a renewed space program and education in the sciences, before his death in 2020.

Alfred Merrill Worden was born February 7,1932, in Jackson, Michigan, the son of Merrill Bangs Worden and Helen Garnett Worden.

Alfred Worden attended Dibble, Griswold, Bloomfield and East Jackson grade schools and graduated from Jackson High School, where he became the student council president.

Alfred Worden was a Boy Scout and earned the rank of First Class Scout.

Alfred Worden's family was not wealthy, so Worden sought a scholarship to enable his studies.

Alfred Worden was able to secure one to the University of Michigan, but it was good for only one year.

Alfred Worden selected West Point and began his studies there in July 1951.

Alfred Worden came to like the demanding life at West Point, especially once he passed the initial stages of his military education and was given greater responsibility within the Corps of Cadets.

Alfred Worden received a Bachelor of Science degree in military science from West Point in 1955, finishing 47th out of 470 in his class.

At the time Alfred Worden graduated from West Point, he had no piloting experience.

Graduates of West Point and Annapolis were permitted to choose to be commissioned in the Air Force, and some of Alfred Worden's instructors urged this course upon him.

Alfred Worden chose the Air Force, thinking promotion would be faster, something he subsequently learned was not the case.

Alfred Worden received primary flight training at Moore Air Force Base, Texas, where he learned to fly on Beechcraft T-34 trainer aircraft, coming to love piloting.

Alfred Worden first post-training assignment was with the 95th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base, near Washington, DC, where he flew F-86Ds, and later, F-102 Delta Daggers.

Alfred Worden earned Master of Science degrees in aerospace engineering and instrumentation engineering from the University of Michigan in 1963.

Alfred Worden learned that his superiors wanted him to be part of an exchange program with Britain's Royal Air Force and be trained at the Empire Test Pilots' School in Farnborough, England.

Since that course would not begin for six months, Alfred Worden spent the time at the Randolph Air Force Base Instrument Pilots Instructor School.

In 1963, Alfred Worden put his name in for selection to NASA's third group of astronauts but was told that though NASA was interested in him even without test pilot experience, he was ruled out by his pending orders to Farnborough, with which the agency could not interfere.

Alfred Worden thought he would be beyond NASA's age limit for new astronauts when next free to consider such a career option, and so believed he would never be an astronaut.

Believing, as proved correct, that the Air Force program would never get off the ground, Alfred Worden chose to apply only to NASA, which he did in September 1965.

Budget cuts and the diversion of funds to other programs meant there would be relatively few flights, and Alfred Worden perceived some resentment at the new intake from more senior astronauts as the competition for spots on Apollo missions intensified.

Alfred Worden took the assignment as an indication that NASA management, including Slayton, was pleased with him.

Alfred Worden informed the other astronauts on-site and they flew back to Houston.

Alfred Worden was especially saddened by the fact that the three accomplished pilots who were to make up the first Apollo space crew died on the ground, rather than flying.

The crew who had been scheduled for Apollo8, led by Jim McDivitt, became the Apollo9 crew, and Alfred Worden became part of that mission's support crew along with Mitchell and Jack Lousma.

Slayton, in his memoirs, mentioned that Alfred Worden had been on the support crew for Apollo9, and deemed him a "logical choice".

Alfred Worden wrote in his own autobiography that he and Irwin had learned of their selection for Apollo12 at a meeting in Scott's office.

Alfred Worden remembered that the Apollo12 prime crew, led by Pete Conrad, had a close bond and drove matching black and gold Chevrolet Corvettes at Kennedy Space Center.

Alfred Worden found El-Baz to be an enjoyable and inspiring teacher.

Alfred Worden accompanied his crewmates on geology training which took them to places where they walked over terrain resembling the Moon's, including sites in Hawaii, Mexico, and Iceland.

Alfred Worden trained for the possibility he might have to return without Scott and Irwin or rescue them if the LM launched into the wrong orbit.

When he was not busy with that or other training, Alfred Worden spent much of his time at North American Rockwell's facilities at Downey, supervising the construction and testing of Apollo15's command and service module.

Alfred Worden felt NASA needed to do more to engage children, members of a generation whose support would one day be necessary for the space program.

Alfred Worden appeared on the show before going to the Moon and answered several children's questions: he wrote down some others and took them with him on the spacecraft, promising to think about them on the trip, and after the mission, appeared again on the program to answer them.

Once trans-lunar injection had been achieved, placing the spacecraft on a trajectory towards the Moon, explosive cords separated the CSM, Endeavour, from the booster as Alfred Worden operated the CSM's thrusters to push it away.

Alfred Worden then maneuvered the CSM to dock with the LM, Falcon, which was mounted on the end of the S-IVB, and the combined craft was then separated from the S-IVB by explosives.

Alfred Worden had executed a burn of the CSM's main engine, the Service Propulsion System, to send Endeavour from the lower orbit in which the two craft separated, to an orbit of 65.2 nautical miles by 54.8 nautical miles in preparation for his scientific work.

Alfred Worden began what amounted to a separate mission from his crewmates, with a separate CAPCOM and mission controllers.

Alfred Worden supplemented the photographs with verbal descriptions; Endeavour's inclined orbit caused it to pass over features never seen before in detail as Worden watched.

Alfred Worden did not need all the rest periods for sleep, and spent part of that time in contemplation of what was outside his craft, and what it all meant.

Alfred Worden concluded it was naive to believe Earth had the only life in the universe, and he wondered if space exploration was part of humanity's survival instinct to avoid being trapped in a single solar system.

Alfred Worden has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "most isolated human being" during his time alone in Endeavour.

Alfred Worden later stated he enjoyed his "three wonderful days in a spacecraft all by myself", and that he was used to being alone as a fighter pilot.

Alfred Worden piloted the CSM as Scott maneuvered the LM, bringing them together in a direct rendezvous, on the first lunar orbit, the second time a first-orbit rendezvous had been accomplished.

Alfred Worden took 38 minutes in extravehicular activity outside Endeavour to accomplish this, three times venturing from outside the hatch to the exterior of the SIM bay of the SM.

In retrieving the film cassettes from the panoramic and mapping cameras, Alfred Worden performed the first deep-space EVA, and reported his personal observations of the general condition of equipment housed there.

Alfred Worden remains, as of 2020, the record-holder for the spacewalk performed furthest from Earth.

In completing his flight, Alfred Worden logged 295 hours and 11 minutes in space.

Alfred Worden wrote an angry letter to Herrick, stating that the sales were putting his career at risk.

Slayton, knowing Alfred Worden was a stamp collector, became suspicious that he had arranged both deals, and this led to repeated phone calls asking for details.

Alfred Worden remembered what hurt the most about that meeting was having disappointed Slayton, a man he greatly admired.

Alfred Worden did not clear out his office but began looking into ways of staying at NASA, even if outside the Astronaut Corps.

Alfred Worden found an ally in Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight Dale D Myers, who helped Worden get a position at the Ames Research Center in California.

At Ames, Alfred Worden served as a Senior Aerospace Scientist, and from 1973 to 1975, chief of the Systems Study Division.

Alfred Worden retired from NASA and the Air Force, with the rank of colonel, in 1975.

In 1982, Alfred Worden ran for the United States House of Representatives in Florida's 12th congressional district but lost the Republican primary to state senator Tom Lewis.

Alfred Worden sold some of them to pay debts from his unsuccessful run for Congress.

Alfred Worden still believed other former astronauts looked at him askance because of the postal covers incident.

Alfred Worden was at the time living near KSC and as the Mercury Seven aged, he and other later astronauts took on greater responsibilities.

The organization's name was changed to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, and in 2005, Alfred Worden was elected to chair its board of directors.

Alfred Worden held executive positions with Jet Electronics and Technology, Inc.

In 2011, Alfred Worden's autobiography, Falling to Earth: An Apollo15 Astronaut's Journey to the Moon made the top 12 of the Los Angeles Times Bestseller list.

Alfred Worden wrote Hello Earth: Greetings from Endeavour, a collection of poetry, in 1974, and a children's book, I Want to Know About a Flight to the Moon.

Widely known as "Al", Alfred Worden made many public appearances, and was one of the most approachable of the former astronauts, ready to chat over a vodka on the rocks.

In 2018, Alfred Worden joined the Back to Space organization as an Astronaut Consultant with the goal of using film to inspire the next generation to go to Mars.

Alfred Worden entered the International Space Hall of Fame in 1983.

Alfred Worden was inducted into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997.

In 2009, Alfred Worden was honored with the NASA Ambassador of Exploration Award.

Alfred Worden received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree in Astronautical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1971.

Alfred Worden married Pamela Vander Beek, whom he met on a blind date while a cadet, in June 1955.

The couple divorced in December 1969, just before Alfred Worden was selected to fly on Apollo15.

Alfred Worden became the first astronaut to divorce during the program and thereafter fly in space.

Al and Pamela Alfred Worden lived across the street from each other following the separation, and he remained involved in their daughters' lives.

Alfred Worden was initially shunned by the Astronaut Wives Club but in time this ended.

Alfred Worden had two daughters with Pamela Worden, Merrill and Alison, and one stepdaughter, Tamara, from his third marriage.

Alfred Worden died on March 18,2020, at an assisted living center in Sugar Land, Texas.

Alfred Worden had been suffering from an infection at home in League City, Texas for which he was hospitalized at Texas Medical Center in Houston.

Alfred Worden was convalescing at the Sugar Land facility at the time of his death.

Those paying tribute to Alfred Worden included fellow Group 5 astronauts Duke, Haise and Jack Lousma.