Scott Carpenter, Astronaut, signed 1971
US-10 FDC. Kennedy Space Center cancel, Fleetwood color
cachet, unaddressed, fresh, bright &
VF.
Scott Carpenter,
a dynamic pioneer of modern exploration, has the unique distinction
of being the first human ever to penetrate both inner and outer
space, thereby acquiring the dual title,
Astronaut/Aquanaut.
He was born in
Boulder, Colorado, on May 1, 1925, the son of research chemist Dr.
M. Scott Carpenter and Florence Kelso Noxon Carpenter. He attended
the University of Colorado from 1945 to 1949 and received a
bachelor of science degree in Aeronautical
Engineering.
Carpenter was
commissioned in the U.S. Navy in 1949. He was given flight training
at Pensacola, Florida and Corpus Christi, Texas and designated a
Naval Aviator in April, 1951. During the Korean War he served with
patrol Squadron Six, flying anti-submarine, ship surveillance, and
aerial mining, and ferret missions in the Yellow Sea, South China
Sea, and the Formosa Straits. He attended the Navy Test Pilot
School at Patuxent River, Maryland, in 1954 and was subsequently
assigned to the Electronics Test Division of the Naval Air Test
Center, also at Patuxent. In that assignment he flew tests in every
type of naval aircraft, including multi- and single-engine jet and
propeller-driven fighters, attack planes, patrol bombers,
transports, and seaplanes.
From 1957 to 1959
he attended the Navy General Line School and the Navy Air
Intelligence School and was then assigned as Air Intelligence
Officer to the Aircraft Carrier, USS
Hornet.
Carpenter was
selected as one of the original seven Mercury Astronauts on April
9, 1959. He underwent intensive training with the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), specializing in
communication and navigation. He served as backup pilot for John
Glenn during the preparation for Americas first manned orbital
space flight in February
1962.
Carpenter flew
the second American manned orbital flight on May 24, 1962. He
piloted his Aurora 7 spacecraft through three revolutions of the
earth, reaching a maximum altitude of 164 miles. The spacecraft
landed in the Atlantic Ocean about 1000 miles southeast of Cape
Canaveral after 4 hours and 54 minutes of flight
time.
On leave of
absence from NASA, Carpenter participated in the Navys Man-in
the-Sea Project as an Aquanaut in the SEALAB II program off the
coast of La Jolla, California, in the summer of 1965. During the
45-day experiment, Carpenter spent 30 days living and working on
the ocean floor. He was team leader for two of the three ten-man
teams of Navy and civilian divers who conducted deep-sea diving
activities in a seafloor habitat at a depth of 205
feet.
He returned to
duties with NASA as Executive Assistant to the Director of the
Manned Spaceflight Center and was active in the design of the
Apollo Lunar Landing Module and in underwater extravehicular
activity (EVA) crew
training.
In 1967, he
returned to the Navys Deep Submergence Systems Project (DSSP) as
Director of Aquanaut Operations during the SEALAB III experiment.
(The DSSP office was responsible for directing the Navys Saturation
Diving Program, which included development of deep-ocean search,
rescue, salvage, ocean engineering, and Man-in-the-Sea
capabilities.)
Upon retirement from the Navy in
1969,after twenty-five years of service, Carpenter founded and was
chief executive officer of Sear Sciences, Inc., a venture capital
corporation active in developing programs aimed at enhanced
utilization of ocean resources and improved health of the planet.
In pursuit of these and other objectives, he worked closely with
the French oceanographer J.Y. Cousteau and members of his Calypso
team. He has dived in most of the worlds oceans, including the
Arctic under ice.
As a consultant to sport and
professional diving equipment manufacturers, he has contributed to
design improvements in diving instruments, underwater breathing
equipment, swimmer propulsion units, small submersibles, and other
underwater devices.
Additional projects brought to
fruition by his innovative guidance have involved biological pest
control and the production of energy from agricultural and
industrial waste. He has also been instrumental in the design and
improvement of several types of waste handling and waste-transfer
equipment.
Carpenter continues to apply his
knowledge of aerospace and ocean engineering as a consultant to
industry and the private sector. He lectures frequently in the U.S.
and abroad on the history and future of ocean and space technology,
the impact of scientific and technological advance on human
affairs, and mans continuing search for excellence. An avid skier,
he spends much of his free time on the slopes in his home of Vail,
Colorado, his home for the past fifteen
years.
He has appeared as television
spokesman for many major corporations, including General Motors
(Oldsmobile), standard Oil of California, Nintendo, and Atari; and
has hosted and narrated a number of television documentaries. He
has also served as actor/consultant to the film industry in the
fields of space flight, oceanography, and the global
environment.
He has written two novels, both dubbed
underwater techno-thrillers. The first was entitled The Steel
Albatross. The second, a sequel, was called Deep Flight. His
memoir, For Spacious Skies which he co-authored with his daughter,
Kristen Stoever, was published by Harcourt in January
2003.
Carpenters awards include the Navys
Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the NASA
Distinguished Service Medal, U.S. Navy Astronaut Wings, the
University of Colorado Recognition Medal, the Collier Trophy, the
New York City Gold Medal of Honor, the Elisha Kent Kane Medal, the
Ustica Gold Trident, and the Boy Scouts of America Silver Buffalo.
He has been awarded seven honorary
degrees.
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