United States Military Academy (BS) University of Michigan (MS)
Awards
NASA Distinguished Service Medal
Space career
NASA astronaut
Rank
Colonel, USAF
Time in space
12d 7h 12m
Selection
NASA Group 5 (1966)
Total EVAs
1
Total EVA time
38m
Missions
Apollo 15
Mission insignia
Retirement
September 1, 1975
Website
Official website
Alfred Merrill Worden (February 7, 1932 – March 18, 2020) was an American test pilot, engineer and NASA astronaut who was command module pilot for the Apollo 15 lunar mission in 1971. One of 24 people to have flown to the Moon, he orbited it 74 times in the command module (CM) Endeavour.
Worden was born in Michigan in 1932; he spent his early years living on farms and attended the University of Michigan for one year, before securing an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Graduating in 1955, he elected to be commissioned in the United States Air Force, though he had no piloting experience. He proved adept at flying fighter planes, and honed his skills, becoming a test pilot before his selection as a Group 5 astronaut in 1966. He served on the support crew for Apollo 9 and the backup crew for Apollo 12 before his selection for the Apollo15 crew in 1970, with David Scott as commander and James Irwin as lunar module pilot.
After Apollo 15 reached lunar orbit, and his crewmates departed to land on the Moon, Worden spent three days alone in the CM, becoming in the process the individual who traveled the farthest from any other human being, a distinction he still holds. He took many photographs of the Moon and operated a suite of scientific instruments that probed the Moon. During Apollo 15's return flight to Earth, Worden performed an extravehicular activity (EVA), or spacewalk, to retrieve film cassettes from cameras on the exterior of the spacecraft. It was the first "deep space" EVA in history, and as of 2022[update] remains the one that has taken place farthest from Earth.
After their return, the crew became involved in a controversy over postal covers they had taken to the Moon; they were reprimanded by NASA and did not fly in space again. Worden remained at NASA until 1975 at the Ames Research Center, then entered the private sector. He 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. He made many public appearances, promoting a renewed space program and education in the sciences, before his death in 2020.
Alfred Merrill Worden (February 7, 1932 – March 18, 2020) was an American test pilot, engineer and NASA astronaut who was command module pilot for the...
and are known as "Sieger covers". The crew of Apollo 15—David Scott, AlfredWorden, and James Irwin—agreed to take payments for carrying the covers; though...
Worden may refer to: Worden Day (1912–1986), American painter, printmaker, and sculptor AlfredWorden (1932–2020), United States astronaut Dennis Worden...
(77 kg) of surface material. At the same time, Command Module Pilot AlfredWorden orbited the Moon, operating the sensors in the scientific instrument...
missions. Apollo 15 was launched on July 26, 1971, with David Scott, AlfredWorden and James Irwin. Scott and Irwin landed on July 30 near Hadley Rille...
Schweickart David Scott John L. Swigert Paul J. Weitz Clifton Williams AlfredWorden Seven of the trainees did geological research and sample collection...
1970 Littrow crater David Scott AlfredWorden James Irwin Apollo 15 26 July 1971 Hadley Rille David Scott AlfredWorden James Irwin Apollo 16 J April 1971...
Burgess 2017, pp. 63–65. NASA (December 1993). "Astronaut Bio: Alfred Merrill Worden". Archived from the original on February 12, 2017. Retrieved October...
women: tavern owner Mary Hogan in 1954, and hardware store owner Bernice Worden in 1957. Gein was initially found unfit to stand trial and confined to a...
spacecraft on lunar extra-vehicular activity. Command Module Pilot AlfredWorden remained in orbit and acquired hundreds of high-resolution photographs...
Shara Nova (previously Worden) is the lead singer and songwriter for My Brightest Diamond. As a composer she is most recognized for her choral compositions...
Draper, Dolly Cole 1973 Cadillac Eldorado Jim Rathmann Tony Hulman, AlfredWorden, Chris Schenkel, Bob Lund, Dolly Cole 1974 Hurst/Olds Cutlass Jim Rathmann...
Armstrong, first human on the Moon. Yuri Gagarin Alan Shepard 1970s 38 AlfredWorden, first deep space EVA. Vladimír Remek Mirosław Hermaszewski Sigmund...
their introduction of the Boeing 747. 1971 – David Scott, James Irwin, AlfredWorden, and Robert Gilruth of the Apollo 15 mission. 1972 – The Officers and...
D. — STS-58, STS-86/89, STS-112, STS-127 Neil Woodward — No flights AlfredWorden (1932–2020) △ — Apollo 15 Naoko Yamazaki — STS-131 Yang Liwei — Shenzhou...
Archived from the original on 2009-05-15. Retrieved 2009-03-22. "Alfred Merrill Worden". NASA. December 1993. Archived from the original on 2007-10-30...
launch phase of the flight, Scott sat in the left-hand seat of the CSM, Worden in the center seat, and Irwin in the right-hand seat. Apollo 15 was launched...
the prime crew, was the crew of Apollo 15: David Scott as commander, AlfredWorden as CMP and James Irwin as LMP, but in May 1972 they were removed from...
David Wolf — STS-58 (1993), STS-86/89, STS-112 (2002), STS-127 (2009) AlfredWorden — Apollo 15 (1971) John Young (1930–2018) — Gemini 3 (1965), Gemini...
propulsion system to put them on a trajectory back to Earth. The next day, Worden performed an EVA to retrieve the film cassettes from the scientific instrument...
inscription of the astronaut AlfredWorden, including his signature with the following text: "Flown to the Moon on Apollo 15 Al Worden CMP". It is accompanied...
– STS-58, STS-86/STS-89 (Mir EO-24), STS-112, STS-127 Neil Woodward AlfredWorden – Apollo 15 John Young – Gemini 3, Gemini 10, Apollo 10, Apollo 16,...
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