Alfred Worden - Stamp Incident

Stamp Incident

After the return of Apollo 15 to Earth, it was discovered that, without authority, the crew had taken 398 commemorative postal covers to the moon of which a hundred were then sold to a German stamp dealer. The profits of the sale would have been used to establish trust funds for the Apollo 15 crew's children. Although their action was not in any way illegal, and despite the fact that NASA had turned a blind eye to similar activities on earlier flights, the administration decided to make an example of Scott and his crew and none of them flew in space again.

In 1982, Worden ran for the United States House of Representatives in Florida's 12th congressional district, but lost the Republican primary to state senator Tom Lewis. He sold some of the postal covers to pay for debts from this unsuccessful campaign.

Worden received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in 1971.

Read more about this topic:  Alfred Worden

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