Scott Carpenter, who was the fourth American to fly in space, has passed away at the age of 88.
Born in Boulder, Colorado, Carpenter attended the University of Colorado where he studied aeronautical engineering. Carpenter suffered a stroke and was admitted to a hospice in Denver where he died on October 10, 2013.
NASA chose Carpenter along with John Glenn, L. Gordon Cooper, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Walter Schirra, Alan Shepard and Donald "Deke" Slayton to be astronauts in 1959 for the Mercury space program. Following Carpenter's death, John Glenn, 92, now a retired U.S. Senator from Ohio, is the only surviving member of the Mercury 7 team.
In 1962, John Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth, as Carpenter was chosen as a backup astronaut. However, Carpenter flew the second American manned orbital flight in May 1962. Carpenter's spacecraft lost radio contact with NASA controllers and the spacecraft was found 250 miles away from the targeted splashdown site.
Carpenter never flew in space afterwards, which was the result of an injury to his left arm caused in a motorcycle accident in 1964 while on leave from NASA to train for the Navy's SEALAB project. Carpenter had two surgeries on his arm but was later told that he was ineligible for space flight and he resigned from NASA in 1967.
While working for SEALAB II in 1965, Carpenter also spent 28 days living on the ocean floor off the coast of California. He returned to the Navy's Deep Submergence Systems Project in 1967 as a Director of Aquanaut Operations for SEALAB III.
Carpenter also established and led Sea Sciences Inc., with an objective to enhance the use of ocean resources. He acted as a consultant to improve diving instruments, including breathing devices, swimmer propulsion units and small submersibles.
Apart from having space and deep sea adventures, Carpenter was also a writer who wrote novels "The Steel Albatross" in 1991 and "Deep Flight" in 1994.
Carpenter's autobiography "For Spacious Skies" narrates his life and achievements.
Carpenter, who was married four times and divorced thrice, is survived by his wife Patty Barrett and seven children.
