posted 03-29-2020 12:11 PM               

Space Cover #556: Remembering Al Worden

Al Worden. When you would meet Al for the first time he made you feel like you had known him your entire life. You would be greeted with a hearty handshake, a jovial smile and usually a witty comment. I would see Al at Spacefest each year in Tucson and usually at one or two other Space events each year. Each time I had a great time with him, and i think he with me!

We joked, laughed, talked Space and Art, and I listened to all the wonderful stories he always enjoyed sharing.

Al Worden was Command Module pilot on the Apollo 15 Lunar mission. During the return home to earth Al performed the first spacewalk in deep space becoming the first person to ever see both the earth and the moon in Space.

"I realized I had a unique viewpoint: I could see the entire moon if I looked in one direction. Turning my head, I could see the entire Earth. The view is impossible to see on Earth or on the moon," Worden recalled of his time floating in the vacuum of space, more than 196,000 miles (315,500 km) from Earth. "I had to be far enough away from both. In all of human history, no one had been able to see what I could just by turning my head. It was incredible."

Worden's memoir Falling to Earth, co-authored with Francis French tells the story of his life, the mission, the return home and his leaving NASA leaving NASA amid the controversy surrounding flown philatelic covers. That is a story for another Space Cover of the Week... This week we celebrate the life and career of Apollo astronaut Al Worden.

Let's see your favorite Al Worden covers!

Here are a few of mine-

1. (Above) Apollo 15 First Scientific EVA, Kennedy Space Center AUG 5, 1971 cancel.
   
2. Command Module Pilot Al Worden Apollo 15 Splashdown, Hometown Jackson MI cancel AUG 7, 1971
   
3. Apollo 15 Subsatellite, Houston TX AUG 4, 1971 cancel with Robert Rank's "Glow-in-the-Dark" Moon cachet!

This photograph was taken last May in Weatherford, Oklahoma during the Apollo 10 50th anniversary weekend. This how I will always remember Al Worden.

posted 03-30-2020 10:58 AM               

I am still at a lost of words in what to say, or "how" to say or best describe the personal friendship and work relationship we shared together for so many years. I just can't do it at the moment, so please forgive this short tribute-remembrance of this remarkable engineer, test pilot, astronaut, scientist, and author that just happened to go the moon and walk in space.

Heck, I can't even recall the very first time that our paths crossed. It was probably during the rollout of Worden's Saturn V (AS-510) in May 1971 when I was outside the VAB a hundred yards away from his gleaming white gigantic moon rocket waiting for the "first motion" of the launch vehicle as it was being transported atop its mobile tower platform to the launch pad early that morning.

The crew was there and I did see them, however, along with hundreds and hundreds of other invited rollout guest viewers. I do recall getting up to the crew as close as I possibly could and shaking Worden's hand. At the time, I tried to get him and his crewmates to sign a rather primitive envelope cover for me, but it was not to be with so many people around. Like myself, many of them were trying to take their pictures with the crew and ask for autographs, too. Even during those early days as an astronaut, he seemed quite comfortable with everyone around him, very friendly, and easy to talk to.

Little did I know, going back to that exciting rollout day for this young teenage boy that had just moved down to the Florida Space Coast with my family less than 3 years earlier, that it would not be the last time in seeing Col. Worden (and Jim Irwin, along with Dave Scott later) up close.

Never in my wildest dreams 50 years ago would I have imagined that my life would be forever changed during the upcoming years. How can you describe to someone what a blessing it has been for this wide-eyed space fan to know and work with someone like Al Worden on a personal basis.

Below are only a few signed covers, cards, stamps, badges, and photos of mine pertaining to Col. Worden, but with no crew-signed items, in a special Worden-only tribute and remembrance of this truly outstanding individual. Most of the items you see here were actually signed by Al while in my home-office during his visits to Merritt Island and mine to his Vero Beach home since the 1990's, and with others on visits and meetings while at the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame and the Kennedy Space Center.

Like with Chris, I'll forever hold dear to my heart the times we had together and always miss him saying to me, "Hey Kenny, what's up!" He was a remarkably down-to-earth guy, humble, sharp-witted, a great storyteller, and always a joy to be around. For this avid moon-bound space enthusiast, it was a dream come true as the Apollo astronauts seemed so far away, almost untouchable, during my younger years while growing up with rockets practically in my own backyard. Thank You Col. Worden in helping make that dream come true.