50 years ago today, Scott Carpenter flew the second American manned orbital flight on May 24, 1962
50 years ago today, Scott Carpenter flew the second American manned orbital flight on May 24, 1962. He piloted his Aurora 7 spacecraft through three revolutions of the earth.
In this photo, taken on May 24, 1962, Astronaut M. Scott Carpenter looks into his Mercury-Atlas 7 spacecraft, the Aurora 7, before being inserted to begin the launch.
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrrpJRlN4I8]
Mercury-Atlas 7 was the second American orbital Mercury program manned space mission, launched May 24, 1962. The Mercury spacecraft was named Aurora 7 and made three Earth orbits, piloted by astronaut Scott Carpenter. A targeting mishap during reentry took the spacecraft 250 miles (about 400 km) off course, delaying recovery of Carpenter and the craft.