Falling to Earth: An Apollo 15 Astronaut's Journey to the Moon [Formato Kindle]

OK, think about what you're doing right now at this very moment, reading this sentence and being aware of your immediate surroundings. Now, think about when Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden took the first walk ever in deep space 40 years ago and became the first human in history to see both the entire Earth and the Moon simply by turning his head. Feel any different? I know I do!

But that's only one of the "oh my gosh!" moments in "Falling To Earth", and there are many. But perhaps most important is the opportunity to understand an Apollo lunar mission from the perspective of the CMP (Command Module Pilot); the one crew member who stayed aboard and minded the spacecraft while his other two crewmates roamed the lunar surface. Many times overlooked and taken for granted by the moon walking component of the mission, Apollo 15's CMP Al Worden had a very full plate of science experiments to conduct and on-board system instruments to constantly monitor. Space is not a very forgiving place when mistakes occur. Without this critical crewmember consistently performing at his peak, and flying solo for much of the mission, there is no way the full crew would have had a chance of ever returning safely to Earth.

The book has a very nice conversational tone which, to me, is very appealing. The tone is set from the first chapter so that the reader immediately feels as if they're actually being "told" the story from Worden himself. I find this to be very refreshing, practically an honor, as if I'm sitting in Worden's company, while he tells his story.

In addition to the chronology of his various career moves, the book gives the reader a solid sense of how Worden thinks. I consistently found honest, fair and candid assessments, even in areas where Worden considers his career challenges, and as a husband and a father. There is no glossing over these or any other sensitive areas in his life. Instead, he embraces these things with both honesty and humbleness (see "courage"!). It's clear the man has done a lot of soul-searching before writing his story.

From a technical point of view, I particularly enjoyed reading about the Apollo Command Module, which is presented in a most interesting way and without getting lost in cumbersome details. There are some very nice explanations regarding things like the off-center design of the Apollo CM, using the heat shield for lift and firing the thrusters to stay centered in the re-entry corridor. I'm always amazed at how many die-hard Apollo enthusiasts still don't realize that the CM was actually piloted into and through the re-entry back to Earth.

Finally, I really can't say enough about the writing style. I think co-author Francis French has worked a miracle with this book. I'm telling you, I can actually hear Al Worden's voice speaking every word as I read along! Fantastic!

Al Worden has some things to get off of his chest. And he's been waiting almost 40 years to talk about them. All that plus rockets, spaceflight, and a real behind-the-scenes account of one Apollo astronaut's experience is what you'll get in the delightful "Falling to Earth."

Worden, though not a household name to most Americans, is well known to Apollo buffs the world over as the command module pilot of Apollo 15. Though not one of the twelve humans to walk upon the moon, he has the even rarer distinction of being one of only seven human to orbit the moon solo.

A flood of Apollo books started appearing in the late 1980s, with a wide range of quality and authenticity. On the low end of the scale we have the flimsy, ghost-written "Moonshot" ostensibly related by Alan Shepard to the outstanding "Carrying the Fire" by Michael Collins, long regarded as the pinnacle of the genre. I'm happy to report that "Falling to Earth" is on the high end of this scale.

Worden's account succeeds for one simple reason: his story rings true. You get the feeling that this is a man who's not a trained author, but someone who has poured his heart into writing a direct, vivid and honest account of his life's achievements. He comes across as humble and friendly. I had the feeling that I was having a friendly chat with him in my living room. No pretense, no "right stuff" machismo, just a lot of "this is what happened and I'm proud to say that I was there to be part of it."

Other astronaut bio's have removed the sheen of perfection from the 1960s NASA PR machine, so there's no fresh ground broken there, but...Worden does make some very direct statements about his past colleagues that may surprise some. As you might expect from other tellings, neither Alan Shepard or Chris Kraft come off as likeable guys. Shepard's too full of himself and Kraft's just a cranky bastard. There's also no love lost for Dave Scott. Worden makes clear that he has enormous respect for him as a pilot and astronaut, but they're not buddies by any stretch.

Besides a terrific blow-by-blow account of the Apollo 15 mission, a main theme of this book is the postal cover controversy which engulfed the crew following their return to Earth. This controversy is fairly well known, but it's never been covered in such detail by any of the crew. I had no idea how nasty the whole thing became. Far beyond being a simple PR embarrassment, it summarily ended all of their careers as astronauts. They went from being national heroes to disgraced pariahs with head-snapping speed...all over an error in ethical judgement that in retrospect looks laughably trivial. Most surprisingly, Dave Scott, often portrayed as the most Boy Scout-ish of the astronauts doesn't come out looking so good. By Worden's account, Scott abdicated his leadership role by not coming forward as the initiator of the postal cover deal. If completely accurate, this makes Scott look rather bad indeed. Don't get the wrong idea; this is not a tell-all book used to settle scores, but it does a lot to explain some areas of political intrigue that have been inadequately explored until now.

"Falling to Earth" is successful on multiple fronts. It will be just as interesting to the casual reader as it is to those well versed in Apollo history. There's something for everybody. Al Worden has penned a fine edition to the Apollo canon.

A different astronaut biography? How's that you say, after all, most biographies are either lunar centric or space in some manner, and they mostly relate the same experiences (although the effect was varied).

Well, pull up a chair and let me explain. But first, a disclaimer before someone makes a point of it, I worked with Al for a few years, and have known him for over 25 years. But he is a man of such integrity he would be offended if I were to simply write a review in flowery language to boost his sales. No, he would demand integrity on my part as well.

Because that's the man Al Worden is, full of integrity and not only a product of West Point, but an adherent to all that is good about the Point.

So if this ruffles a few feathers, well, that's the way it will be. Honest, to a fault.

Most astronaut biographies are well written. This is no exception. But what sets this book apart from the others is not only the brutal honesty of the scenario involving the philatelic covers so called "scandal", but a viewpoint from a poets mind. Oh not a poet prior to the flight of course. No Al is your arch typical Air Force fighter jock and test pilot.

Al has written 2 previous books, one a kids book about his flight to the moon, and another of poetry from his time in space all alone. "Hello Earth, Greetings from Endeavour" is a good look into the soul of Col. Worden.

His career was sterling. His mission to the moon flawless. He is not a moonwalker as pointed out, that elite fraternity of only 12 men that have set foot on another planetary body. No. But he IS part of that elite fraternity of 6 men who orbited the Moon all alone, and took care of things so the 2 ON the Moon had a place to return to and to be able to get them home. What a responsibility! So this viewpoint, is not one oft read and well worth the read all by itself.

Al also was the first to launch a satellite FROM space, and the very first to perform a deep space EVA for which he still holds the record of furthest deep in space, spacewalk. The first of the truly scientific missions, he was busier than a 1 armed paper hanger during his time alone. He performed admirably.

But shortly after his return from space, it all came crashing down. Due to the snits of a guy who could not qualify to be an astronaut and who seemingly carried the chip on his shoulder, and the actions of the commander and of course, Al not realizing something was wrong; they became embroiled in a controversy that shattered any hopes of another flight in any vehicle.

This story has never been told and I know the "public view" of it has been hurtful to Al ever since it happened. The TRUTH of the situation, is FINALLY revealed. Thank God. It follows Al through the debacle, and rights the misconceptions of the event, and shows how he sued NASA, and came out victorious.

He has thrown himself into doing for others which is simply a product of who he is. His involvement with the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation is by itself, an undertaking that has benefited many youth attending college.

Al deserved so much better, and this books finally puts to rest the spurious claims I've personally heard over the years and that have been floating around.

A great read, well formulated and put together. Any "space junkie" will enjoy it and this will def. be a must get for any of them. But I highly recommend this to anyone curious about the history of our space program. The cover debacle was done well, but is only a small part of the story, the best parts (his mission etc) are well written and documented.