
Scott Carpenter, Mercury Astronaut Who Orbited Earth, Dies at 88 - jmadsen
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/11/us/scott-carpenter-mercury-astronaut-who-orbited-earth-dies-at-88.html?_r=0
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angersock
If you ever get the opportunity, go to an air and space museum and try to get
a look at a Mercury capsule if you have one.

It's basically a trashcan with a person inside, stuck atop an ICBM. Pretty
rad.

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andyjohnson0
I've never seen a Mercury capsule, but the most striking thing to me is its
small size [1]. I know that the flight duration was quite short (longest was
22hrs) but the thing is _tiny_ and there is basically no extra interior space.

Gemini was slightly bigger [2], but I'm always amazed that the Gemini 7 crew
spent _fourteen days_ in a space about as large as the front seats of a
compact car.

Exceptional people.

[1]
[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Mercury-s...](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Mercury-
spacecraft-control.png)

[2]
[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Gemini_sp...](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Gemini_spacecraft.jpg)

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tanzam75
Gemini was actually more cramped than Mercury. It had 160% the habitable
volume of Mercury, but twice the crewmembers.

Gemini was known as the Gusmobile, because Gus Grissom basically lived at
McDonnell during its development and tailored the design to his own
preferences. And really tailored. Because Gus Grissom was the shortest
astronaut at 5'5" (1.65 meters), Gemini turned out to be uncomfortable for
everyone else.

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jk4930
Too sad.

Just want to say that the mentioned book "The Right Stuff" exists also as a 3
hours movie from 1983. You'll find it on youtube, too (two parts). I really
recommend this movie to everyone who's into spaceflight. Full with details and
beauty, a true homage.

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csixty4
OMG it just sank in that there are people who might be too young to know that
movie exists. Yes! See it as soon as you can. It's a beautiful dramatization
of the early days of space exploration, with Bill Conti's perfect soundtrack.

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officemonkey
Fun Fact for Hipster Youth:

Zooey Deschanel's parents are both involved in the film. Her father Caleb
Deschanel was cinematographer and her mother Mary Jo played Annie Glenn (her
role is remarkable because she portrays Annie Glenn with a severe stutter.)

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tokenadult
The most famous of the seven Mercury astronauts, John Glenn, is now the only
survivor. As the article kindly submitted here reports, Scott Carpenter was
the only astronaut who was also (later) a deep-sea explorer, living at depth
in Sealab for a month. These were the childhood heros of most Americans in my
Baby Boom generation.

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ColinWright
If you get the chance to meet any of these guys - grab it with both hands.
I've recently met Al Worden (CMP Apollo 15) and Charlie Duke (10th man on the
Moon). Tonight I'll be meeting Alan Bean (4th man on the Moon), and already
getting excited.

These guys are amazing. Both Charlie Duke and Al Worden were absolute
gentlemen, with fascinating stories, and intriguing insights.

OK, so I'll be just one of a few hundred people in the audience, but it makes
the history come to life, and serves as a reminder that there are people who
did, and others who are still doing, amazing things.

Aspirational and inspirational.

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MarcusBrutus
Did these guys ever exercise more control over the "spaceship" than the
various primates and the Soviet space dogs we've put to orbit? Don't get me
wrong, they were heroic and all that cause unlike Laica they knew exactly what
they were getting into, I am just wondering .. For instance, could they do
something wrong and crash the damned thing?

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rbanffy
A minute of weightlessness... :-(

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leoc
This PBS documentary has some extra explanation as to why Carpenter only got
one flight that only seems to be be hinted at in the NYT story
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jia78xRMTEc#t=3303](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jia78xRMTEc#t=3303)

