‘The day will come when we can’t live here any more,’ says Apollo 15 astronaut
July 26, 1971. Apollo 15 blasts off on a mighty Saturn rocket from the Kennedy Space Centre, destined for the Moon. A few months later, on December 2, a new country in the Middle East sets off on its own independent path.
More than four decades on, one of the astronauts from that mission was in town as the UAE embarks on another journey – to put a spacecraft into orbit around Mars in 2021.
Al Worden was the command module pilot for Apollo 15 and one of only 24 people who have been to the Moon. During the mission, he orbited alone for three days, while the other two astronauts walked on the Moon’s surface.
Now in his 80s, Mr Worden’s enthusiasm for space travel remains undimmed and he is full of praise for a space programme the UAE launched in 2014. Mr Worden said the plan to put a probe around Mars was ambitious but doable.
“Anything in future needs to be co-operative and I see the seeds of that here. It’s a great place.”
But a much more difficult project is the UAE’s proposal to build a city on Mars by 2117.
Today, there is more computer memory in our smartphones than in the entire guidance computer on Apollo 15. Incredibly, Mr Worden used a sextant to navigate back from the Moon in 1975, so navigation is not an issue. But countering radiation and keeping human beings alive for a year and a half in space are key to unlocking a successful mission.
“It’s doable. The question is why: we have to learn how to live somewhere else. Mars is another step up. The day will come when we can’t live here any more – a proper space programme can pay for itself.
“But this is the programme I like to see, because too often we are short-range people. It’s wonderful.”
Mr Worden was born on a farm in Jackson, Michigan, and was unable to afford to go to college so the military provided those opportunities. He forged his own path as a fighter and test pilot before joining Nasa in 1966. But the Apollo 15 flight is the one with which he will be forever associated.
His entered the Guinness World Record book for performing the world’s first space walk in deep space. And for being “the most isolated human”, being the farthest any human has been from his nearest living human – 3,596 kilometres from the other two on the Moon. Apollo 15 was also the first the use the lunar roving vehicle. The days spent cut off from Houston ground control and his colleagues were memorable – especially his views of space from the far side of the Moon.
“There was part of the flight where I had no light on me from the Earth or Sun. Complete darkness except for starlight. The stars were a wash of light – no one individual star as you couldn’t see one. Just a wash of light because there were so many. It makes you think about the universe we live in.
“You begin to realise we are not alone in the universe. There are going to be all kinds of people out there. There are going to be a finite number of planets that have intelligent life.”
This visit was Mr Worden’s first time to the UAE and he has been to the Dubai Airshow, the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference and also spent the past few days touring schools, talking to pupils and emphasising the importance of science, technology, engineering and maths.
Mr Worden also met Alia Al Mansoori, winner of the Genes in Space competition. It was revealed on Wednesday that her experiment that was tested on the International Space Station about how genes could change in space was a success.
“I’m going to put her in touch with a microbiologist in the States so she can have a mentor to talk to. We are going to need these kinds of people in the future for long space flights and I think Alia is going to be one of these people.”
His advice to young Emiratis interested in getting involved is to study what you love.
“The kids are great here. I think they are wonderful – very bright and smart,” he said.
“But don’t worry if it’s astronaut related because in the future we will needs lots and lots of different talent. It doesn’t have to be an aerospace engineer. What is important is to study something they love and do well at it.”
You begin to realise we are not alone in the universe
AL WORDEN
Former Nasa astronaut