Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden, who circled moon, dies at 88

Twenty-four human beings have traveled from Earth to the moon. Fewer than half of them remain.

Astronaut Al Worden, who flew to the moon in 1971 as a member of the Apollo 15 crew, has died. The retired astronaut was 88.

Worden circled the moon alone on that mission, while his two crewmates test-drove the first lunar rover.

From NASA:

Worden served as command module pilot for Apollo 15 with Dave Scott and Jim Irwin. During the mission Worden became the first human to carry out a deep space walk. He logged 38 minutes in extravehicular activity outside the command module, "Endeavour."

During 1972-1973, Worden was Senior Aerospace Scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center, and from 1973 to 1975, he was chief of the Systems Study Division at Ames.

BELOW, "Cycle," a poem by Al Worden:

Umbilicals Breaking free Being born Eternity.

Growing Up Getting wise Being worldly No surprise.

Learn to fly Getting wings Rise above Those earthly things."

Reactions to and official announcements of his death, below.

Houston, Texas March 18, 2020 It is with great sadness that the family of Colonel Al Worden, (USAF Ret.) CMP Apollo 15 share the news that Al died in his sleep last night. The family thank you all for your kindness, thoughts, and prayers. pic.twitter.com/K82iUyVbjm

— Alfred M Worden (@WordenAlfred) March 18, 2020

"Only 24 humans have left Earth orbit and journeyed to the moon. I'm one of the them. It's an exclusive club so small that I am still surprised they let me in."