Scott Carpenter
Scott Carpenter | |
---|---|
NASA astronaut | |
Rank | Commander, USN |
Time in space | 4h 56m |
Selection | NASA Group 1 (1959) |
Missions | Mercury-Atlas 7 |
Mission insignia | |
Retirement | August 10, 1967 |
Malcolm Scott Carpenter (May 1, 1925 – October 10, 2013) was an American
Commissioned into the U.S. Navy in 1949, Carpenter became a naval aviator, flying a
The following year, Carpenter was selected as one of the Mercury Seven astronauts. He was backup to Glenn during the latter's
Carpenter obtained permission from NASA to take a leave of absence to join the U.S. Navy
Early life
Malcolm Scott Carpenter was born on May 1, 1925, in Boulder, Colorado,[1] the son of Marion Scott Carpenter (1901–1973), a research chemist, and Florence Kelso (née Noxon, known in her family as "Toye"; 1900–1962). Carpenter, known in his childhood as Bud or Buddy, moved with his parents to New York City, where his father had been awarded a postdoctoral research post at Columbia University, in 1925.[2]
In the summer of 1927, Carpenter's mother, who was ill with
Carpenter lived with his maternal grandparents in the family home at the corner of Aurora Avenue and Seventh Street.
Like many people in Boulder, Carpenter was deeply affected by the
The Navy had recruited plenty of potential aviators at this time, so to retain young men like Carpenter, the
After visiting his father and stepmother in New York, Carpenter returned to Boulder in November 1945 to study
Carpenter met
On October 31, 1949, Carpenter was recruited by the Navy's Direct Procurement Program (DPP) as its 500th candidate. He reported to Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, for pre-flight training, from which he graduated on March 6, 1950. He then commenced primary flight training at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, learning to fly in an SNJ trainer.[18] He then went to Naval Air Station Corpus Christi for advanced training. Most newly-trained naval aviators—including Carpenter—aspired to fly jet fighters, but in view of his responsibilities as a husband and father, he elected the less dangerous option of flying multi-engine patrol aircraft, and his advanced training was in the Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer, a single-tail version of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. Rene pinned his aviator wings on him on April 19, 1951.[19]
After three months at the Fleet Airborne Electronics Training School in
Impressed with his performance, the skipper of VP-6, Commander Guy Howard,
Carpenter attended the
NASA career
Mercury Seven
On October 4, 1957, the
The first astronauts intake was drawn from the ranks of military test pilots. The service records of 508 graduates of test pilot schools were obtained from the United States Department of Defense. From these, 110 were found that matched the minimum standards:[30] the candidates had to be younger than 40, possess a bachelor's degree or equivalent and to be 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) or less. While these were not all strictly enforced, the height requirement was firm, owing to the size of the Project Mercury spacecraft.[31] DPP was restricted to those with bachelor's degrees, so it was assumed that Carpenter had one.[32]
The number of candidates was then reduced to 32, which seemed a more than adequate number from which to select 12 astronauts. The degree of interest also indicated that far fewer would drop out during training than anticipated, which would result in training astronauts who would not be required to fly Project Mercury missions. It was therefore decided to halve the number of astronauts.[33]
Then came a grueling series of physical and psychological tests at the Lovelace Clinic and the Wright Aerospace Medical Laboratory.[34] Carpenter was considered the most physically fit by his peers; he had the lowest body fat, scored highest on the treadmill and cycling tests, and was able to hold his breath the longest. This was despite the fact that he had smoked a pack of cigarettes a day since joining the Navy in 1943, and did not quit smoking until 1985.[35]
NASA's Charles J. Donlan called Carpenter's home on April 3, 1959, to inform him that he had been one of the seven men selected. Rene answered; Carpenter was on Hornet, but she could reach him. Carpenter called Donlan from a wharfside pay phone to accept the offer. Hornet's skipper, Captain Marshall W. White, refused to release Carpenter until the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Arleigh Burke was able to persuade him.[36]
The identities of the seven were announced at a press conference at
Mercury-Atlas 7
Carpenter, along with the other six Mercury astronauts, oversaw the development of the Mercury spacecraft.
The next mission was a second manned orbital flight to be flown by Slayton (in a capsule he would have named Delta 7), but he was suddenly grounded for an atrial fibrillation.[44] Carpenter was assigned to replace him instead of Slayton's backup, Schirra, as Carpenter had more training time in the simulators.[45] In contrast to Glenn's flight, Mercury-Atlas 7 was planned as a scientific mission rather than an engineering one.[46]
After the most trouble-free countdown of Project Mercury to date, Carpenter flew into space on May 24, 1962, watched by 40 million television viewers.[47] He performed five onboard experiments per the flight plan, and became the first American astronaut to eat solid food in space. He also identified the mysterious "fireflies" observed by Glenn during Friendship 7 as particles of frozen liquid loosened from the outside of the spacecraft, which he could produce by rapping on the wall near the window. He renamed them "frostflies".[48]
Carpenter's performance in space was the subject of criticism and controversy. NASA's 1989 official history of Project Mercury says that until the third pass over Hawaii, Christopher C. Kraft Jr. (who directed the flight from Cape Canaveral) "considered this mission the most successful to date; everything had gone perfectly except for some overexpenditure of hydrogen peroxide fuel".[49] However, then problems occurred and Kraft wrote in his 2001 memoir "He was completely ignoring our request to check his instruments... I swore an oath that Scott Carpenter would never again fly in space."[50] Kraft went so far as to name the chapter of his memoirs dealing with Carpenter's flight The Man Malfunctioned. [51]
Unnoticed by ground control or pilot, however, the overexpenditure of fuel was caused by an intermittently malfunctioning pitch horizon scanner (PHS) that later malfunctioned at reentry. Still, NASA later reported that Carpenter had:
exercised his manual controls with ease in a number of [required] spacecraft maneuvers and had made numerous and valuable observations in the interest of space science. ... By the time he drifted near Hawaii on the third pass, Carpenter had successfully maintained more than 40 percent of his fuel in both the automatic and the manual tanks. According to mission rules, this ought to be quite enough hydrogen peroxide, reckoned Kraft, to thrust the capsule into the retrofire attitude, hold it, and then to reenter the atmosphere using either the automatic or the manual control system.[49]
At the retrofire event, the PHS malfunctioned once more, forcing Carpenter to manually control his reentry. This caused him to overshoot the planned splashdown point by 250 mi (400 km). "The malfunction of the pitch horizon scanner circuit [a component of the automatic control system] dictated that the pilot manually control the spacecraft attitudes during this event."[52]
The PHS malfunction yawed the spacecraft 25 degrees to the right, accounting for 170 miles (270 km) of the overshoot; the delay caused by the automatic sequencer required Carpenter to fire the retrorockets manually. This effort took two pushes of the override button and accounted for another 15 to 20 miles (30 km) of the overshoot. The thrusters had a set sequence of ignition, and that sequence was delayed by Carpenter manually firing them. This added another 60 miles (100 km), producing a 250-mile (400 km) overshoot.[52] The flight lasted 4 hours and 56 minutes,[53] during which Aurora 7 had attained a maximum altitude of 166 miles (267 km) and an orbital velocity of 17,532 miles per hour (28,215 km/h).[48]
During
About 36 minutes after splashdown, Carpenter spotted two aircraft. A
Postflight analysis described the PHS malfunction as "mission critical" but noted that the pilot "adequately compensated" for "this anomaly ... in subsequent inflight procedures,"[57] confirming that backup systems—human pilots—could succeed when automatic systems fail.[49] Some memoirs, such as that of Gene Cernan, have revived the simmering controversy over who or what, exactly, was to blame for the overshoot, suggesting, for example, that Carpenter was distracted by the science and engineering experiments dictated by the flight plan and by the well-reported fireflies phenomenon:
Scott was the only multi-engine pilot among the elite cadre of veteran jet pilots, and it was whispered that he didn't volunteer for the space program, his dynamic and attractive wife did. Scott was just glad to be around, and was physically fit to an amazing degree. But he screwed up his own Mercury flight by joyriding, not paying enough attention to the job, missing his retrofire cue and splashing down several hundred miles from the target area. It became pretty obvious that Scott would never fly in space again.[58]
Yet fuel consumption and other aspects of the vehicle operation were, during Project Mercury, as much if not more the responsibility of the ground controllers. Gene Kranz, assistant flight director at the time, acknowledged that and placed some of the blame on the shoulders of ground control: "A crewman distracted and behind in the flight plan is a danger to the mission and himself. ... The ground had waited too long in addressing the fuel status and should have been more forceful in getting on with the checklists."[59]
Moreover, hardware malfunctions went unidentified, while organizational tensions between the astronaut office and the flight controller office—tensions that NASA did not resolve until the later
Ocean research
Carpenter met
In 1965, for SEALAB II, Carpenter spent 28 days living on the ocean floor off the coast of California.
Carpenter returned to NASA as Executive Assistant to the Director of the
After failing to regain mobility in his arm after two surgical interventions in 1964 and 1967, Carpenter, suffering from avascular necrosis, was ruled ineligible for spaceflight and further deep-sea missions. He spent the last part of his NASA career developing underwater training to help astronauts with future spacewalks. He resigned from NASA in August 1967, and retired from the Navy in 1969 with the rank of commander, after which he founded Sea Sciences, Inc., a corporation for developing programs for utilizing ocean resources and improving environmental health.[68]
Carpenter became a consultant to sport and diving manufacturers, and to the film industry on space flight and oceanography. He gave talks, and appeared in television documentaries on these subjects. He was involved in projects related to biological pest control and waste disposal, and for the production of energy from industrial and agricultural wastes. He also appeared in television commercials for brands such as
Personal life
Carpenter was married four times, divorced three times, and had a total of eight children by three wives, seven of whom survived to adulthood.[70] He married his first wife, Rene, in September 1948.[71] They had five children: Marc Scott, Kristen Elaine, Candace Noxon, Robyn Jay,[72] and Timothy Kit, who died in infancy.[73][74] By 1968, Carpenter and his wife had separated, with him living in California and Rene with their children in Washington, D.C. The Carpenters divorced in 1972.[75] In 1972, Carpenter married his second wife, Maria Roach, the daughter of film producer Hal Roach.[75] Together, they had two children: Matthew Scott, and Nicholas Andre, who would later become a filmmaker.[70] He married his third wife, Barbara Curtin, in 1988. They had a son, Zachary Scott, when Carpenter was in his 60s. The marriage ended in divorce a few years later.[70] In 1999, when he was 74, Carpenter married his fourth wife, Patricia Barrett. They resided in Vail, Colorado.[76]
In September 2013, Carpenter suffered a
Awards and honors
U.S. Government awards
- Navy Astronaut Wings[81]
- Legion of Merit[81]
- Distinguished Flying Cross[81]
- NASA Distinguished Service Medal[81]
- Navy Unit Commendation[82]
- American Campaign Medal[82]
- World War II Victory Medal[82]
- China Service Medal[82]
- bronze star[82]
- battle stars[82]
- United Nations Korea Medal[82]
- Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation[82]
Civilian awards
- University of Colorado Recognition Medal[81]
- Collier Trophy[83]
- New York City Gold Medal of Honor[84]
- Elisha Kent Kane Medal[81]
- Numismatica Italiana Award[81]
- Boy Scouts of America Silver Buffalo Award[81]
In 1962, Boulder community leaders dedicated Scott Carpenter Park and Pool in honor of native son turned Mercury astronaut. The park features at 25-foot tall climbable metal rocket spaceship.
Carpenter was named to the
In popular culture
Speaking from the blockhouse at the launch of Friendship 7, Carpenter said "Godspeed, John Glenn," as Glenn's vehicle rose off the launch pad to begin the first U.S. orbital mission on February 20, 1962. This quote was included in the voiceovers of the teaser trailer for the 2009 Star Trek film.[94] The audio phrase is used in Kenny G's "Auld Lang Syne" (The Millennium Mix).[95] It is also used as a part of an audio introduction for the Ian Brown song "My Star".[96]
The character of Scott Tracy in the Thunderbirds television series was named after Carpenter.[97] In the 1983 film, The Right Stuff, Carpenter was played by Charles Frank. Although his appearance was relatively minor, the film played up Carpenter's friendship with Glenn, as played by Ed Harris. This film is based on the 1979 book of the same name by Tom Wolfe.[98] In the 2015 ABC TV series The Astronaut Wives Club, Carpenter was portrayed by Wilson Bethel,[99] and Rene Carpenter by Yvonne Strahovski.[100] In the 2020 Disney+ miniseries The Right Stuff, Carpenter was played by James Lafferty.[101]
Books
- We Seven: By the Astronauts Themselves, ISBN 978-1439181034co-written with Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton.
- For Spacious Skies: The Uncommon Journey of a Mercury Astronaut, ISBN 0-451-21105-7, Carpenter's biography, co-written with his daughter Kristen Stoever; describes his childhood, his experiences as a naval aviator, a Mercury astronaut, including an account of what went wrong, and right, on the flight of Aurora 7.
- The Steel Albatross, ISBN 978-0831776084. Science fiction. A technothriller set around the life of a fighter pilot in the US Navy's Top Gun school.
- Deep Flight, ISBN 978-0671759032. Science fiction. Follow-on to The Steel Albatross.
Notes
- ^ a b Burgess 2011, p. 325.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 10–11.
- ^ a b Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 6–8, 42–44.
- YouTube
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, p. 49.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 72–73.
- ^ "Astronauts and the BSA" (PDF), scouting.org, archived from the original (PDF) on June 22, 2011, retrieved December 26, 2018
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 71–75.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 76–77.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 78–85.
- ^ a b c d Carpenter, Scott (May 1, 2012). "About Scott". Mercury Astronaut Scott Carpenter. Archived from the original on March 31, 2018. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
- ^ a b Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 86–87.
- ^ "About Us". Delta Tau Delta. Archived from the original on May 15, 2010. Retrieved February 19, 2012.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 89–90.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, p. 97.
- ^ Burgess 2016, p. 165.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 91–95.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 98–100.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 104–106.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 110–111.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 118–119.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 125–126.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, p. 113.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 128–130.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 134–138.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 156–157.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 160–162.
- ^ Burgess 2011, pp. 25–29.
- ^ Swenson, Grimwood & Alexander 1966, p. 134.
- ^ Atkinson & Shafritz 1985, pp. 36–39.
- ^ Burgess 2011, p. 35.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 169–190.
- ^ Atkinson & Shafritz 1985, p. 42.
- ^ Atkinson & Shafritz 1985, pp. 43–47.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 185–186.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 194–195.
- ^ Burgess 2011, pp. 274–275.
- ^ Atkinson & Shafritz 1985, pp. 42–47.
- ^ Glenn & Taylor 1985, pp. 274–275.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 220–221.
- ^ Swenson, Grimwood & Alexander 1966, p. 238.
- ^ Swenson, Grimwood & Alexander 1966, p. 407.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, p. 226.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 238–240.
- ^ Swenson, Grimwood & Alexander 1966, pp. 440–443.
- ^ Swenson, Grimwood & Alexander 1966, pp. 443–445.
- ^ Swenson, Grimwood & Alexander 1966, pp. 446–447.
- ^ a b Swenson, Grimwood & Alexander 1966, pp. 454–456.
- ^ a b c Swenson, Grimwood & Alexander 1966, p. 453.
- ^ Kraft 2001, p. 170.
- ^ Kraft 2001, p. 162.
- ^ a b Manned Spacecraft Center 1962, p. 66.
- ^ Grimwood 1963, p. 165.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 292–293.
- ^ a b c Swenson, Grimwood & Alexander 1966, pp. 456–457.
- ^ Roberts 2000, p. 106.
- ^ Manned Spacecraft Center 1962, p. 1.
- ^ Cernan, Davis & 1999, pp. 51–52.
- ^ Kranz 2001, p. 91.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 300–302.
- ^ Wolfe 1979, p. 376.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 353–354.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 314–317.
- ^ PMID 4382569.
- PMID 4380341.
- ^ Hellwarth 2012, pp. 142–143.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 321–322.
- ^ a b Carpenter & Stoever 2003, p. 330.
- ^ Burgess 2011, p. 329.
- ^ a b c Carpenter & Stoever 2003, p. 331.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, p. 95.
- ^ "Visit of Astronaut Lt. Cmdr. Scott Carpenter & family, 10:00AM". JFK Library. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
- ^ Carpenter & Stoever 2003, pp. 105–107.
- ^ a b Burgess 2016, pp. 200–201.
- ^ a b Martha Fay (April 7, 1975). "Ex-Astronaut Wife Rene Is the Carpenter in the News Now". People. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
- ^ "Scott Carpenter Fast Facts". CNN. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
- ^ Borenstein, Seth (October 2013). "Scott Carpenter Obituary". Legacy.com. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
- ^ Burgess 2016, p. 201.
- ^ "Mercury Astronaut Scott Carpenter Remembered at Colorado Funeral". space.com. November 3, 2013. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
- ^ Burgess 2016, p. 208.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Astronaut Bio: Scott Carpenter". NASA. February 11, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
- ^ "Astronauts Have Their Day at the White House". Chicago Tribune. October 11, 1963. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "New York to Honor Carpenter". Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio. Associated Press. June 3, 1962. pp. 4–9 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Scott Carpenter Park". City of Boulder, Colorado. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
- ^ "History of Scott Carpenter Park and Pool". City of Boulder, Colorado. 2006. Archived from the original on March 28, 2009. Retrieved January 4, 2010.
- ^ "Westminster Public Schools / District Home". scot.adams50.org. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ^ "M. Scott Carpenter Elementary School (340927003516)". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ^ Chamberland, Dennis (2006). "Scott Carpenter Space Analog Station". The Challenge Project. NASA. Archived from the original on August 3, 2009. Retrieved January 4, 2010.
- ^ "San Diego Air & Space Museum Selects "Class of 2008" Aviation and Space Legends for Induction into the Museum's International Aerospace Hall of Fame". Aviation Pros. July 22, 2008. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
- ^ Harbert, Nancy (September 27, 1981). "Hall to Induct Seven Space Pioneers". Albuquerque Journal. p. 53 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Mercury Astronauts Dedicate Hall of Fame at Florida Site". Victoria Advocate. Victoria, Texas. Associated Press. May 12, 1990. p. 38 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Enshrinee Scott Carpenter". nationalaviation.org. National Aviation Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ Pascale, Anthony (January 19, 2008). "Interview – Orci Answers Questions About New Star Trek Trailer". TrekMovie. Retrieved January 21, 2008.
- ^ Kenny G. (1999). "Auld Lan Syne (The Millennium Mix)". Faith: A Holiday Album. EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. Retrieved January 4, 2010.
- YouTube.
- ^ Marriott 1992, p. 18.
- ^ Burgess 2016, p. 232.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (October 13, 2014). "Wilson Bethel To Co-Star On ABC's 'Astronaut Wives Club', Pen Drama For CW". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ "Yvonne Strahovski to Co-Star in ABC's 'Astronaut Wives Club'". The Hollywood Reporter. September 30, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
- ^ Stuever, Hank (October 8, 2020). "Whatever 'The Right Stuff' is, this Disney Plus adaptation could use more of it". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
References
- Atkinson, Joseph D.; Shafritz, Jay M. (1985). The Real Stuff: A History of NASA's Astronaut Recruitment Program. Praeger special studies. New York: Praeger. OCLC 12052375.
- OCLC 747105631.
- OCLC 909327788.
- Carpenter, Scott; Stoever, Kris (2003). For Spacious Skies: The Uncommon Journey Of A Mercury Astronaut. NAL Trade. OCLC 52821294.
- OCLC 751411480.
- OCLC 42290245.
- Grimwood, Charles C. (1963). Project Mercury: A Chronology (PDF). The NASA History Series. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. OCLC 840695484. SP-4001. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
- Hellwarth, Ben (2012). Sealab: America's Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor. New York: Simon & Schuster. OCLC 464593094.
- OCLC 46462822.
- Kraft, Chris (2001). Flight: My Life in Mission Control. New York: Dutton. OCLC 49323520.
- Manned Spacecraft Center (1962). Results of the Second U.S. Manned Orbital Space Flight, May 24, 1962 (PDF). Washington, DC: NASA. OCLC 1044057680. SP-6. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
- Marriott, John (1992). Thunderbirds Are Go!. London: Boxtree. OCLC 27642248.
- Roberts, Michael D. (2000). "Patrol Squadron Histories for 3rd VP-18 to 1st VP-22". Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons (PDF). Vol. 2. Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
- Swenson, Loyd S. Jr.; Grimwood, James M.; Alexander, Charles C. (1966). This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury (PDF). The NASA History Series. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. OCLC 569889. NASA SP-4201. Retrieved June 28, 2007.
- OCLC 849889526.
External links
- Iven C. Kincheloe Awards
- Carpenter at International Space Hall of Fame
- Carpenter, Rene (June 1, 1962). "The Time That Grew Too Long". Life Magazine. pp. 26–37. Retrieved August 2, 2015. Rene Carpenter's article for Life magazineon Carpenter's flight.
- The short film "Story of Sealab II (1965)" is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.