Apollo astronaut Al Worden, who orbited the moon, dies at 88

Apollo 15 astronaut Alfred M. Worden, who performed the first-ever spacewalk in deep space while on his way home from the moon in 1971, has died at the age of 88.

Apollo astronaut Al Worden, who orbited the moon, dies at 88 : Read more

"To return that data to Earth, Worden needed to exit the Apollo 15 spacecraft and retrieve film cassettes from the mapping and panoramic cameras mounted on the outside of the service module. After reuniting with Scott and Irwin from the moon's surface and leaving lunar orbit, Worden made history by performing the first deep space extravehicular activity (EVA) on Aug. 5, 1971. For 39 minutes and 7 seconds, he floated in the vacuum of space at a distance of more than 196,000 miles (315,500 km) from Earth. "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. 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 said."

That must have been a great view on the way back home. The right stuff here.
 

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