Scott Carpenter, 2nd US astronaut in orbit dies

Friday, October 11, 2013

Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter answers a question from the crowd, he and Former Mercury astronaut and Sen. John Glenn speak at the Kennedy Space Center, Friday, Feb. 17, 2012 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. John Glenn fever has taken hold in the U.S. once again. Three days before the 50th anniversary of his historic flight, the first American to orbit the Earth addressed employees at Kennedy Space Center. (AP Photo/Michael Brown)

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NASA, national/world

DENVER -- The second American to orbit the Earth and one of the last surviving original Mercury 7 astronauts has died.

Astronaut Scott Carpenter was 88.

His wife, Patty Barrett, says Carpenter died of complications from a stroke in a Denver hospice.

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As an astronaut and aquanaut who lived underwater for the U.S. Navy, Carpenter was the first man to explore both the depths of the ocean and the heights of space.

Carpenter gave the famous send-off - "Godspeed, John Glenn" - when Glenn became the first American in orbit in February 1962.

Three months later, Carpenter orbited the Earth three times. He lost contact with NASA during the off-target landing but was found safely floating in his life raft 288 miles away.

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NASA, national/world