Scott Carpenter 1925-2013
On Oct. 10, 2013, the United States said goodbye to a prominent hero as Scott Carpenter passed away in Denver, Colo. at the age of 88. Carpenter was one of the last two remaining astronauts of the original space program known as Mercury seven, with the other one being John Glenn.
Malcolm Scott Carpenter was born in Boulder, Colo. on May 1, 1925, but his family moved to New York City when he was only two years old. Carpenter returned to Boulder with his mother due to her painful illness, and Carpenter was ultimately raised by his grandparents until he graduated from Boulder High School in 1943.
After completing a Navy training program at the end of World War II, Carpenter returned to his hometown to study aeronautical engineering at the University of Colorado. Although he fell one requirement short of completing his degree at the end of his final year, he ended up receiving it after the Mercury flight.
The Mercury Flight started when Carpenter and six other astronauts were selected for NASA’s Project Mercury program back in April, 1959. In Feb. of 1962, Carpenter became only the second American to orbit the Earth with fellow astronaut John Glenn being the first. He also became the fourth American to fly into space on May 24th of that same year.
