I met Carpenter on an airline flight a little over 10 years ago. I told him if we ran into any issues in the cockpit, we'd be happy if he would volunteer his assistance. We both had a good laugh at that one. Such a nice gentleman. Sad to see all these space program heroes passing on.
Yeah, he got kinda screwed by Chris Kraft after botching his re-entry timeline and wasting fuel by running the automatic and manual attitude control systems at the same time. But c'mon, this was the 2nd orbital mission and the space program needed people like him.
Scott Carpenter was in many ways the first "science-astronaut" before NASA officially named "science-astronauts" later in the decade.He saw himself more as an explorer than a test pilot.He was none the less a true American hero!
_a malfunction of the automatic alignment system, Carpenter overshot his planned re-entry mark_ ...That is letting Scott Carpenter off very easily. He deliberately wasted attitude control system fuel because he blatantly disregarded orders and performed unauthorized maneuvers. The recovery crews and their backups were furious that they had to spend so much time and effort and unduly risk their own safety to go on a hunt for him. When they found him, he was sitting in his raft and cockily offered them a bite of his food. He was fired immediately from the astronaut corps, though NASA did not openly say that.
You are being unfair. Go to the Smithsonian and see what these guys had to fly. Such rudimentary unreliable systems. The temperature rose to 102 degrees both in the capsule and Carpenters body. Try orbiting the earth in all those conditions and then flipping a switch which he did 3 seconds late. If you listen carefully you can hear the distress in his voice. All 7 of these guys took incredible risks for the advancement of science.
Scott Carpenter was a brilliant astronaut ... probably the best of the early pioneers ... we all know he wasn't seen as a test pilot etc .. but for me he did it ... RIP Scott Carpenter
He sounds like a regular person going through something amazing and being brave. But you can sort of tell just from this why they never sent him again. He doesnt sound enough like a pilot, he isnt a part of his machine. If you listen to Shepard, Grissom, or Glen on their flights you'll hear a difference.
@Aslin Fire Safety I absolutely agree that's spot on way of putting it. He was definitely ahead of his time, he would have made a perfect mission specialist.
Carpenter was maligned unecessarily, these wer the early years NASA was learning as they were going hr fell behind time trying to accomplish a full load of experiments in 3 orbits and pilot the Mercury. I guess he learned from it. He shoulda got another flight.
@@jackhammer111 They not only cut Gus Grissom tons of slack compared to Carpenter, but rewarded Grissom with the first Gemini and Apollo flights (though I hesitate to use reward and Apollo 1 in the same sentence). You had a lot of personalities in upper level position in NASA at that time and Carpenter should have been treated a bit better in my opinion.
@@paulsarna5066 Slayton and Shepard got what they wanted. Interestingly, they were the ones grounded by problems, so IMO they took that opportunity to take political control.
@@rdubb77 ...and from what I have heard, especially about Shepard 2nd hand, that Slayton and him didn't have the most pleasant personalities. I had the pleasure to speak to John and Annie Glenn (they were inseparable) a bunch of times and when I mentioned Grissom losing his capsule, Glenn's demeanor changed noticeably and he said sharply "I knew Gus and he wouldn't do anything unless he was told to". I have often thought if he was talking about the lost capsule or he was speaking in general terms, but his sudden seriousness was pretty memorable for me.
Thanks for posting this clip if it was during the blackout, How was this clip obtained it looks like it came by radio with the squelch down how did you get it thanks.
Thanks for your comment. The cockpit voice recorder was active during periods when the Mercury was out of reach of ground communication/tracking stations. Also that period during re-entry to splashdown when radio communication with the ground was not possible. R.E.
they were trained to keep talking even in blackouts so if something goes wrong they can leave infor about it behind . It would be interesting to hear some others. 250 miles long.
He disobyed the flight plan and used up to much fuel looking for fire flies john glenn seen on the previous mission. He wasted so much fuel he didn't have enough for reentry, got lucky and made it in but landed 100 miles off target. He deserved not to fly again. The misson should of never been taken away from Deke in my opinion, Chris Kraft knew about how scott carpenter would step on Nasa toes alot and didn't want him to fly. I don't blame him look what happened. He was right about Scott Carpenter
@@michaelkilgoresr.8361 He used up the fuel trying to spot light events set up by NASA in Australia. The capsule wouldn't align properly and Carpenter did his damnest to position the spacecraft. The manual landing was nothing short of a miracle, only topped by Gordon Cooper's seat-of-the-pants reentry. Cooper was also screwed over by Christopher Kraft and Deke Slayton. Along with Donn Eisele and Walt Cunningham. And in another case of bad judgement, Kraft chose Elliot See as an astronaut in The New Nine. See should never have been selected. Slayton had his flight pulled by flight surgeons for his heart condition; the same flight surgeons who grounded Alan Shepard for Mèniér's Syndrome. They were only returned to flight status once medical science had made their conditions manageable. You don't have an astronaut go to space if there's even the smallest chance they could suffer a myocardial infarction while in orbit.
I met Carpenter on an airline flight a little over 10 years ago. I told him if we ran into any issues in the cockpit, we'd be happy if he would volunteer his assistance. We both had a good laugh at that one. Such a nice gentleman. Sad to see all these space program heroes passing on.
Yeah, he got kinda screwed by Chris Kraft after botching his re-entry timeline and wasting fuel by running the automatic and manual attitude control systems at the same time. But c'mon, this was the 2nd orbital mission and the space program needed people like him.
The Mercury was a touchy craft and could screw up without any help from the pilot, thank you. That's why they needed test pilots.
So calm and collected in such an intense and hostile environment. These test pilots had nuts of steel. No capacity for fear.
He was a true hero, whether it was recognized by his peers or not.
Thanks for posting this!
This was extremely interesting. thx for posting!
Scott Carpenter was in many ways the first "science-astronaut" before NASA officially named "science-astronauts" later in the decade.He saw himself more as an explorer than a test pilot.He was none the less a true American hero!
Great post....THANKS.
Astronaut and deep sea diver on Sealab 2
_a malfunction of the automatic alignment system, Carpenter overshot his planned re-entry mark_ ...That is letting Scott Carpenter off very easily. He deliberately wasted attitude control system fuel because he blatantly disregarded orders and performed unauthorized maneuvers. The recovery crews and their backups were furious that they had to spend so much time and effort and unduly risk their own safety to go on a hunt for him. When they found him, he was sitting in his raft and cockily offered them a bite of his food. He was fired immediately from the astronaut corps, though NASA did not openly say that.
You are being unfair. Go to the Smithsonian and see what these guys had to fly. Such rudimentary unreliable systems. The temperature rose to 102 degrees both in the capsule and Carpenters body. Try orbiting the earth in all those conditions and then flipping a switch which he did 3 seconds late. If you listen carefully you can hear the distress in his voice. All 7 of these guys took incredible risks for the advancement of science.
Scott Carpenter was a brilliant astronaut ... probably the best of the early pioneers ... we all know he wasn't seen as a test pilot etc .. but for me he did it ... RIP Scott Carpenter
minardi F1 He also was on Sealab 2 off California u/w habitat.
The fourth
American astronaut to rocket into space,
Carpenter orbited the earth three times but controversially went beyond his intended landing zone.
He sounds like a regular person going through something amazing and being brave. But you can sort of tell just from this why they never sent him again. He doesnt sound enough like a pilot, he isnt a part of his machine. If you listen to Shepard, Grissom, or Glen on their flights you'll hear a difference.
@Aslin Fire Safety I absolutely agree that's spot on way of putting it. He was definitely ahead of his time, he would have made a perfect mission specialist.
Carpenter was a Navy test pilot when he was chosen by
NASA to become one of the first
American astronauts.
Are you related to the late Donn Eisele?
Carpenter was maligned unecessarily, these wer the early years NASA was learning as they were going hr fell behind time trying to accomplish a full load of experiments in 3 orbits and pilot the Mercury. I guess he learned from it. He shoulda got another flight.
I agree. Too many scientific experiments for a test flight for a start. Mike Adams experienced similar problems on his fatal X-15 flight.
no, sorry. he mismanaged his mission. how do you think his fuel got used up. he wanted to look at everything like a tourist. he was warned about it.
@@jackhammer111
They not only cut Gus Grissom tons of slack compared to Carpenter, but rewarded Grissom with the first Gemini and Apollo flights (though I hesitate to use reward and Apollo 1 in the same sentence). You had a lot of personalities in upper level position in NASA at that time and Carpenter should have been treated a bit better in my opinion.
@@paulsarna5066 Slayton and Shepard got what they wanted. Interestingly, they were the ones grounded by problems, so IMO they took that opportunity to take political control.
@@rdubb77
...and from what I have heard, especially about Shepard 2nd hand, that Slayton and him didn't have the most pleasant personalities. I had the pleasure to speak to John and Annie Glenn (they were inseparable) a bunch of times and when I mentioned Grissom losing his capsule, Glenn's demeanor changed noticeably and he said sharply "I knew Gus and he wouldn't do anything unless he was told to". I have often thought if he was talking about the lost capsule or he was speaking in general terms, but his sudden seriousness was pretty memorable for me.
Thanks for posting this clip if it was during the blackout, How was this clip obtained it looks like it came by radio with the squelch down how did you get it thanks.
Thanks for your comment. The cockpit voice recorder was active during periods when the Mercury was out of reach of ground communication/tracking stations. Also that period during re-entry to splashdown when radio communication with the ground was not possible. R.E.
The recording here was taken from a NASA master tape which was available during the 1970's and probably still is from the NASA archives.
they were trained to keep talking even in blackouts so if something goes wrong they can leave infor about it behind . It would be interesting to hear some others. 250 miles long.
Carpenter was treated so unfairly by Christopher Kraft + NASA. Office politics lost him a chance at a second flight
He disobyed the flight plan and used up to much fuel looking for fire flies john glenn seen on the previous mission. He wasted so much fuel he didn't have enough for reentry, got lucky and made it in but landed 100 miles off target. He deserved not to fly again. The misson should of never been taken away from Deke in my opinion, Chris Kraft knew about how scott carpenter would step on Nasa toes alot and didn't want him to fly. I don't blame him look what happened. He was right about Scott Carpenter
MDavid Kilgore 250 miles*
@@michaelkilgoresr.8361 actually nasa admited that there was a fault in the rcs system that time so he had to use manual control
@@michaelkilgoresr.8361 He used up the fuel trying to spot light events set up by NASA in Australia. The capsule wouldn't align properly and Carpenter did his damnest to position the spacecraft. The manual landing was nothing short of a miracle, only topped by Gordon Cooper's seat-of-the-pants reentry. Cooper was also screwed over by Christopher Kraft and Deke Slayton. Along with Donn Eisele and Walt Cunningham.
And in another case of bad judgement, Kraft chose Elliot See as an astronaut in The New Nine. See should never have been selected.
Slayton had his flight pulled by flight surgeons for his heart condition; the same flight surgeons who grounded Alan Shepard for Mèniér's Syndrome. They were only returned to flight status once medical science had made their conditions manageable. You don't have an astronaut go to space if there's even the smallest chance they could suffer a myocardial infarction while in orbit.
The first astronaut to be officially screwed over by Christopher Kraft.
Have you read "Deke!"?