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Apollo

Five things to know about Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden

Dawn Campbell, Audience Engagement Director

Published: July 14, 2019 at 10:03 AM

HOUSTON – Here are five things to know about Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden:

Al Worden was a gymnast before becoming a lead cheerleader at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Col. Worden served as a member of the astronaut support crew for the Apollo 9 flight as well as backup command module pilot for the Apollo 12 flight before going into space as the command module pilot for Apollo 15 in 1971.

He was the first person to perform a spacewalk in deep space, 196,000 miles from Earth.

He was good friends with Fred Rogers, children’s TV legend "Mr. Rogers," and made several appearances on his show. Rogers is the person who encouraged Worden to write a children’s book.

Worden also has published a book of poetry and his autobiography. He’s now writing the foreword to a book about his friend Neil Armstrong.

Watch this video of Worden's daughter sharing her favorite mementos from the Apollo era.

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