Posts: 297
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posted 10-10-2013 03:32 PM            

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Very sad news indeed. I feel privileged to have met him in Birmingham, UK in September 2009. My sincere condolences to all his family and friends.

Godspeed Scott Carpenter.

. RIP

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From: South Pasadena, CA 91030
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posted 10-10-2013 03:45 PM               

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I posted a photo on my Facebook page with a story I'd like to share. It was taken at the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation autograph show in 2011, I believe.

Just prior I'd been lucky enough to attend an impromptu panel discussion with Scott Carpenter, Buzz Aldrin and Charlie Duke. There was a Q&A and most of the questions were of a technical nature about of their respective flights; and most of them were about familiar details for a room full of space aficionados.

Luckily I was called to ask the last question of the session. I said, "Gentlemen, you're in a room full of enthusiastic space collectors, and thanks to you and your colleagues we all have some item that we value above all others. I wonder if you have something similar — an artifact, an image, or perhaps a memory from your flights that you cherish, and if so, may I ask you to share it with us?"

There was a silence among the three of them as they looked at each other with eyebrows raised. Carpenter said, "I didn't think we'd ever be asked any new questions!" Then Buzz took the lead, explaining that the broken Ascent Engine breaker from Eagle, and the pen that he and Armstrong used arm the engine, was still in his possession. Charlie Duke said for him it was a memory: after nearly being waved off their landing on Apollo 16 due to problems with the service module, he and John Young finally for their go for descent. Duke said it was the sight of the descent engine scattering lunar dust as they were nearing touchdown that he remembered most because he knew at that moment that they were really going to make it.

I don't know why, but the session closed before Carpenter got to answer, and it was later in the bar at the Radisson that I got to ask him again. He smiled and told me that it was the sight of his spent Atlas booster tumbling end over end with the Earth in the background that he remembered — "That was the show-stopper," he said.

That's when this photo was taken.

I'll remember that moment as one of my own show-stoppers. Scott Carpenter was a poet-warrior, fortiter in re, suaviter in modo, and we are lucky for having witnessed his life.

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posted 10-10-2013 04:08 PM               

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There always seemed more to Scott Carpenter than just spaceflight.

Godspeed to a true 'Renaissance Man'...

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From: Bluffton IN USA
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posted 10-10-2013 04:13 PM               

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May God speed.

.

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From: Union, New Jersey
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posted 10-10-2013 04:15 PM               

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I had the distinct honor to meet him at a book signing when "For Spacious Skies" was published.

And so another of my heroes meets eternity. Rest In Peace, sir.

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From: Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
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posted 10-10-2013 04:17 PM               

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One of the very warmest and friendliest human beings one could ever wish to meet. I feel blessed for having been fortunate enough to meet Scotty on a number of occasions.

Godspeed Scotty!

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posted 10-10-2013 04:18 PM               

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.

My sympathies to his family.

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posted 10-10-2013 04:32 PM            

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I am so sorry to hear this news. I met Scott Carpenter three times. He was always courteous, friendly and very engaging. The story of Mercury came alive in his presence, all those decades later.

While our thoughts should be with Scott's family at this time of sadness and quiet reflection, I can't help thinking also of John Glenn, the last of the Seven.

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From: Messina, Sicilia, Italia
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posted 10-10-2013 05:11 PM               

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Godspeed Scott Carpenter.

You are my favourite astronaut of the Mercury Seven. You deserve first EVA, lunar landing and Skylab mission.

Posts: 1329
From: Staten Island, New York USA
Registered: Nov 2007

posted 10-10-2013 05:12 PM               

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The nation has lost another trailblazer in space. I met Cmdr. Carpenter at a signing event with Charlie Duke, and I had his book For Spacious Skies along for him to sign. When it was my turn, he looked at the slip that had my first name written down, and correctly pronounced it (safe to say it's a little harder than 'Sam' or 'Joe'). A true gentleman, and unfailingly polite. He will be missed by all, especially by his brother astronaut John Glenn. My condolences to his daughter Kris and the rest of the family.

Aurora 7 has liftoff...

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