NASA Astronaut and Apollo 15 Command Module pilot, Col. Al Worden, USAF (Ret.), died in Houston Texas, March 17, 2020, at age 88.

Worden piloted the Endeavour command module for Apollo 15 in 1971, the fourth lunar landing mission and the first to use a lunar rover. Remaining in orbit while commander David Scott and lunar module pilot James B. Irwin explored Hadley Rille and the Apennine Mountains, Worden photographed the lunar surface and made other observations.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine remarked on Worden’s flight as Apollo 15 command module pilot, “He earned a world record as ‘most isolated human being’ while his crew mates roamed the lunar surface, and he was 2,235 miles away from anyone else.”

On the return trip, Worden made a spacewalk to retrieve film from an instrument module on the Apollo spacecraft while it was 196,000 miles from Earth.

After leaving the astronaut corps, Worden became Senior Aerospace Scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California from 1972 to 1973, then chief of the Systems Study Division until retiring in 1975.

Worden later became president of Maris Worden Aerospace Inc. and was vice-president of BF Goodrich Aerospace, Brecksville, Ohio, among other industry positions.

Worden wrote several books: a collection of poetry, “Hello Earth: Greetings from Endeavour” (1974); a children’s book, “I Want to Know About a Flight to the Moon” (1974); and a memoir, “Falling to Earth” (2011). His interest in educating children about space led to multiple appearances on the children’s show “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

In recent years, Worden was a goodwill ambassador for the U.S. aerospace industry at Kallman Worldwide USA Partnership Pavilion events at major international air shows.

Kallman established the Astronaut Al Worden Endeavour Scholarship Foundation to recognize the Apollo 15 command module pilot and global advocate for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. The scholarship pays expenses for select students and teachers to spend a week at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center’s Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama.

Worden said at the 2019 Paris Air Show, “As a lifelong advocate for education and exploration, I am deeply honored and excited to lend my name and experience to this international Space Camp program. When you consider the decades of rigor and discipline it’s going to take to successfully put people from Earth on Mars, and that getting to Mars is just one of the countless engineering challenges we face on our own planet today, we need to pick up the pace. The pipeline for STEM talent can handle a lot more volume.”

Worden embodied the test pilot’s Right Stuff, his no-nonsense demeanor reminding me of a stern high-school coach. But his manner warmed when he spoke at the Kallman events I attended, patiently answering visitors’ questions – doubtless ones he’d answered hundreds of times before – long after it was time to leave. He was a tireless advocate for returning humans to the moon and going to Mars, and the urgent need to train the next generation of engineers around the world to get us on our way.

In a March 19^th communication, the Produce Marketing Association announced cancellation of their upcoming webinar 'Cleaning and Sanitizing Best Practices for Legacy Packing Operations,' slated for March 24. An email for PMA states, "At this time, we have made the decision to postpone the event in light of the emerging COVID-19 situation. We want to let you know that PMA will continue to support the produce and floral industry during this crisis. Please find more information and reach out to us at PMA.com."

Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. company, has been selected as a project agreement holder for the competitive demonstration and risk reduction (CD&RR) effort as part of the U.S. Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program. Under the agreement, Bell will deliver a refined V-280 Valor design, with supporting technical documentation, that builds on the data captured during the more than two years and 170 hours of flight testing under the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstration (JMR TD) program to inform the FLRAA program of record.

“Bell and Team Valor are excited to continue working on a system that has proven its ability to bring exceptional capabilities to warfighters,” said Mitch Snyder, president and CEO at Bell. “The JMR TD and V-280 show that rapid maturation of new technology is possible with a solid government-industry partnership fueled by our talented and innovative workforce. We look forward to the FLRAA competition.”

This contract follows the successful U.S. Army led JMR TD program. As part of that program, Bell managed collaboration with the 12 leading companies that make up Team Valor to enable rapid production, systems integration, and deliberate program schedule to validate the V-280’s flight capabilities and operational relevance. The V-280 achieved all program goals, demonstrating its speed by flying more than 300kts and demonstrating low-speed agility attitude quickness. These characteristics are important to inform FLRAA program requirements to ensure the program will help warfighters meet the challenges of future multi-domain fights.

“This is an important milestone in the history of Bell and Army aviation. We are honored to be part of it,” said Keith Flail, vice president, Advanced Vertical Lift Systems at Bell. “The next phase is an opportunity for this team to build on the success of the last six years and continue to bring the proof that we can provide transformative capabilities to our Army in line with their stated goal of 2030.”

The V-280 Valor was developed in support of the government Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program, the Army’s number three modernization priority area. The FLRAA program is meant to produce a medium-lift utility rotorcraft replacement with transformational speed, power, and maneuverability, at a sustainable cost, to active duty and reserve aviation units.

Detroit, Michigan – White House officials have had talks with executives about making ventilators in the coming weeks to treat patients who need breathing support during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Talks are preliminary, but the officials with Ford and General Motors have confirmed that they’re studying feasibility of emergency medical production. All U.S. plants are closed, to slow the spread of the disease, so there’s room for production. Making respirators would require bringing some workers back, figuring out designs and controls, and winning regulatory approval for products.

There are many types of medical ventilators, ranging from simple devices that use mild pressure to force air into patients’ lungs to complex systems that rapidly cycle pure oxygen. COVID-19 attacks the lungs, and in Italy and other countries suffering through widespread outbreaks, doctors have had to pull some sick, older patients off of breathing-assistance devices to support younger, healthier patients.

Great Britain has made a similar appeal to non-medical manufacturers, and several automakers there have pledged to make components for medical parts using excess factory capacity and 3D printers.

In California, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said his company has the expertise to make masks and ventilators, noting that SpaceX builds life-support systems for space, and Tesla cars have high-tech air-circulation systems. In a tweet, he said the company would be able to offer emergency production capacity, but he downplayed the need, asking if any hospitals were yet running short on equipment.

The U.S. auto industry has a history of supplying the government with emergency equipment in times of crisis. During World War II, the U.S. became known as the Arsenal of Democracy for its ability to rapidly produce munitions, tanks, planes, and ships for the war effort. All of Detroit’s automakers converted their car plants to military production, and companies built new airplane and tank plants that converted to car production after the war.