The
HONOR
of being an
ASTRONAUT
“
Do you know what they did down on the Moon?
What those guys’ primary job was? They picked up
rocks and dirt. Now, myself, in lunar orbit...”
– Al Worden, Apollo 15 CMP
USAF Colonel Alfred Worden served as
Command Module Pilot for Apollo 15 – the
fourth manned lunar landing mission. He
also holds the record for the furthest deepspace Extravehicular Activity (EVA) (more
commonly known as a spacewalk) any astronaut has ever done. He spent 38 minutes
working in the vacuum of space, getting a
perfect view of both his home planet and
the Moon at the same time. Worden has
spent, in total, 295 hours and 11 minutes
in space. On top of his many accomplishments, he has authored three books: “Hello
Earth! Greetings from Endeavour”, “I Want
to Know About a Flight to the Moon”, and
his autobiography, “Falling to Earth”.
I, along with our photographer, Julian
Leek, planned to meet with Worden for
brunch on a Sunday afternoon for this interview. I arrived a little early on that day and
when I walked into the restaurant, there
was a framed photo of the view of Earth
from the moon on the wall, signed by him.
The host sat me at “his table” and let me
know it was the one he likes the most. I had
barely set my stuff down when I saw him
walk in. Everyone working in the restaurant
seemed to know him - I could tell that he
was a regular. He greeted the staff with a
Interview by Sherry Valare
14
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huge smile and knew most of their names.
When the waitress came to take our order,
Worden suggested his usual choice. We
had a delicious meal consisting of steak
tidbits with eggs Benedict and great conversation before we got down to business.
When Worden tells a story, he makes
you feel like you experienced it with him.
He is genuine and what struck me about
him was how open he was in giving his
opinion on anything and everything I asked
about. No question was too personal, nothing was off limits - he had a lot to say and
was wildly fun with his answers. His opinions
about his crewmates and people in his life
were given in a lighthearted manner, and
though he was very serious about his political, scientific and professional questions, he
rarely told an entire story without inserting
some clever, witty joke. By the end of the
interview, the muscles in my face hurt from
laughing so much and so hard.
I thought he would reveal a lot of poetic
epiphanies he had as he traveled to the
Moon and back, however, I realized that,
ultimately, he was a man serving his country who simply did the job he was sent to
do. I came out of this interview with an entirely new understanding of what being an
astronaut is all about. Honor.
I present to you, the inner workings of the
mind of Colonel Al Worden.
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