Astronaut speaks about NASA and education
Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Alfred "Al" Worden spoke to students from Chaparral and Mountain View Middle Schools about his time with NASA and the importance of education on Friday morning.
In 1971, Worden served as the Command Module Pilot for Apollo 15, the fourth manned mission to the moon. Apollo 15 was the first mission to fly the Lunar Roving Vehicle, which allowed astronauts to explore more areas of the moon's surface. He also served as part of the astronaut support crew for Apollo 9 and as backup command module pilot for the Apollo 12 flight.
"Kids are the future," he said. "If we don't get these kids going in the right way, we're going to be in trouble. We're in trouble anyway so we've got to put special emphasize on getting kids in the right frame of mind to go onto college and do the best they can."
Worden scored high on his Civil Service Exam to become one of two individuals from the state of Michigan to be appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point. He also earned a master's of science degree in Astronautical and Aeronautical Engineering and Instrumentation Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1963.
"My parents never paid a dime for my college education. I got eight years and that's because I did it on my own," Worden said. "There is absolutely no excuse for a kid not going to college today. There are all kinds of ways, scholarships and grants, all kinds of ways kids can get into college if they really want to."
"What I want them to get from what I'm talking about is that they should go to college and I could care less what studies they take but whatever they take, they better be darn good at it," he said. "They've got to work hard. I think they'll find there's nothing they can't do if they really put their minds to it."
During his flight, Worden spent three days alone on the Command Module Endeavor and was listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the "most isolated human being." At his farthest point from his fellow astronauts on the moon, Worden was 2,234 miles away from any other human. Worden logged 295 hours and 11 minutes in space by the end of his flight.
During his time with students, Worden talked about his time with the Apollo program and answered questions from students about the food he ate in space and the journey he took around the moon.
Worden, the keynote speaker for NMMSH Hall of Fame Induction 2015 Gala Banquet and Ceremony Saturday, has served multiple terms as Chairmen of the Board for the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation and has written three books, including a book of poetry from his time on Apollo 15, a children's book and recently an autobiography.
"We're going to have a big celebration Saturday night that I hope lots of people come to it," he said. "We're going to induct some people into the Hall of Fame and I think it's going to be a lot of fun and we're going to see some interesting things."
