The Mercury Seven were the group of Astronauts selected by NASA in 1959 to undertake American space missions. They were also called the Original Seven and Astronaut Group 1.
With the death of Scott Carpenter of the Original Seven, at 88 years old, yesterday, only John Glenn is left alive. All the others - Alan Shepard, Wally Schirra, Gordon Cooper, Deke Slayton, and Gus Grissom are already on their final voyage. Gus Grissom died in the Apollo 1 fire, which makes him only one to die in harness - literally.
Carpenter was not thought of as a hero after his only space flight, as many NASA officials found fault with his performance. Christopher Kraft, the flight director, wrote in his memoir “Flight: My Life in Mission Control” (2001), “I swore an oath that Scott Carpenter would never again fly in space. He didn’t.”
But that didn’t stop Carpenter from having an adventurous life. After his NASA career, Carpenter became the only astronaut who was also an aquanaut. In 1965, he spent 30 days under the ocean off the coast of California as part of the US Navy's SeaLab II program.
The Original Seven are also touted as the only astronaut group with members that flew on all classes of NASA manned orbital spacecraft of the 20th century—Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and the Space Shuttle.
That’s like saying my uncle is one of the few to have watched both B&W and Colour televisions. I mean, how could Sunita Williams ever fly on a Mercury mission, when the Mercury program was completed in 1963 - two years before Sunita Williams was born?
Then again, think of John Glenn Jr., of the Mercury Seven, who at 77 (in 1998) became the oldest person to fly to space, as a mission specialist on Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-95). By then he was US Senator representing Ohio (1974-1999).
Which goes to prove yet another point - US Senators can do quite well, if only they are tethered and do exactly what they are told!
But was there a need to prove it by sending an old man into space? Aren’t there umpteen number of them dancing to the tune of NRA and Big Oil?
However that is, here is cheers to Scott Carpenter, may be have an untroubled final voyage!
(image courtesy AP)
With the death of Scott Carpenter of the Original Seven, at 88 years old, yesterday, only John Glenn is left alive. All the others - Alan Shepard, Wally Schirra, Gordon Cooper, Deke Slayton, and Gus Grissom are already on their final voyage. Gus Grissom died in the Apollo 1 fire, which makes him only one to die in harness - literally.
Carpenter was not thought of as a hero after his only space flight, as many NASA officials found fault with his performance. Christopher Kraft, the flight director, wrote in his memoir “Flight: My Life in Mission Control” (2001), “I swore an oath that Scott Carpenter would never again fly in space. He didn’t.”
But that didn’t stop Carpenter from having an adventurous life. After his NASA career, Carpenter became the only astronaut who was also an aquanaut. In 1965, he spent 30 days under the ocean off the coast of California as part of the US Navy's SeaLab II program.
The Original Seven are also touted as the only astronaut group with members that flew on all classes of NASA manned orbital spacecraft of the 20th century—Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and the Space Shuttle.
That’s like saying my uncle is one of the few to have watched both B&W and Colour televisions. I mean, how could Sunita Williams ever fly on a Mercury mission, when the Mercury program was completed in 1963 - two years before Sunita Williams was born?
Then again, think of John Glenn Jr., of the Mercury Seven, who at 77 (in 1998) became the oldest person to fly to space, as a mission specialist on Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-95). By then he was US Senator representing Ohio (1974-1999).
Which goes to prove yet another point - US Senators can do quite well, if only they are tethered and do exactly what they are told!
But was there a need to prove it by sending an old man into space? Aren’t there umpteen number of them dancing to the tune of NRA and Big Oil?
However that is, here is cheers to Scott Carpenter, may be have an untroubled final voyage!
(image courtesy AP)
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