Scott Carpenter, The Second American To Orbit Earth, Dies At 88

Scott Carpenter Malcolm Scott Carpenter, who used his middle name as his first, was the second American to orbit the Earth, way back in 1962, on the Mercury mission. (John Glenn was the first.) Carpenter died today in Denver. Carpenter was the fourth American in space, ever, and one of the original Mercury Seven, the very first group of astronauts ever selected by NASA. He flew into orbit in May 1962 on the Aurora 7 spacecraft and, moving at 17,532 miles per hour, circled the Earth three times i...