Al Worden, Apollo 15 astronaut and author of FALLING TO EARTH

Al Worden served as a support crew member for Apollo 9, backup command module pilot for Apollo 12, and command module pilot for Apollo 15’s moon mission on July 26-August 7, 1971.

Al is one of only 24 people to have flown to the Moon and back successfully.

After retirement from active duty in 1975, Al spent years in private industry before becoming the Chair of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.

Interestingly, Al has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “Most isolated human being” during his time alone in the command module Endeavour. When the orbiting command module was at its greatest distance from fellow astronauts Scott and Irwin in the Falcon LEM, Al was 2,235 miles away from any other human beings

Al ran unsuccessfully for the US House of Representatives from FL in 1982.