Al Worden

Al Worden was command module pilot aboard Apollo 15 in summer, 1971. The CMP on this mission not only stayed in orbit around the moon while his crewmates explored the surface, he was very busy during his station-keeping.

Apollo 15 was the first "J-mission" designed for heavy geologic input. It was the first mission to use the lunar rover, the first to use extended-stay, rechargible lunar suits, a crew heavily trained in geology; by the nation's finest geologists, and a SIM bay, a heavily instrumented section of the orbiting spacecraft exposed to space. snapping high-resolution photos of the moon from orbit. The SIM bay was operated by Worden. On the flight home, Worden did a deep-spacewalk to rertrieve exposed film from the SIM bay.

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  • Apollo Mission Scandal

    Ian Punnett welcomed Apollo 15 command module pilot Al Worden, who discussed his career in spaceflight and how he went from honored national hero to being drummed out of the NASA Astronaut Corps. In the first hour, author Howard Wasdin (book link) reacted to the deadly...More »

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