Categories: MercuryMissions

Mercury Astronaut Scott Carpenter Dies

One of the original “Mercury 7” astronauts, Scott Carpenter, has died. He was the sixth person to fly in space; the fourth American to fly in space and the second US astronaut to orbit Earth. Carpenter died on Thursday, October 10, 2013 at age 88 after suffering a recent stroke. With the death of Carpenter, the only remaining surviving member of the original US astronauts is John Glenn.

collectSPACE is reporting that Carpenter was being cared for at a hospice center in Denver when he passed. Carpenter was initially expected to make a full recovery from the stroke, but his condition worsened this week, sources close to his family shared.

Carpenter was chosen as an astronaut in 1959. He launched in his Aurora 7 capsule on May 24, 1962 in the fourth manned mission and the second orbital flight of the Mercury program. The video below celebrates the Aurora 7 flight, which successfully made three Earth orbits. But a targeting mishap during reentry took the spacecraft about 400 km (250 miles) off course, delaying recovery of Carpenter and the capsule. Carpenter was picked up after nearly 3 hours in the water, and the Mercury capsule was not retrieved until about 6 hours later.

Carpenter said of his flight, “The zero-g sensation and the visual sensation of space flight are transcending experiences, and I wish everybody could have them.”

Carpenter was born on n May 1, 1925. He is survived by his wife, seven children, two step-children and six grandchildren.

source: collectSPACE.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy has been with Universe Today since 2004, and has published over 6,000 articles on space exploration, astronomy, science and technology. She is the author of two books: "Eight Years to the Moon: the History of the Apollo Missions," (2019) which shares the stories of 60 engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make landing on the Moon possible; and "Incredible Stories from Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos" (2016) tells the stories of those who work on NASA's robotic missions to explore the Solar System and beyond. Follow Nancy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nancy_A and and Instagram at and https://www.instagram.com/nancyatkinson_ut/

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