Pioneering US Astronaut Scott Carpenter Dies at 88

Former astronaut Scott Carpenter, one of the legendary seven original U.S. astronauts and the second American to orbit the Earth, has died after suffering a stroke. He was 88 years old. Carpenter flew into space aboard his Aurora space capsule on May 24, 1962 -- a time when spaceflights were new and captured the attention of the entire nation. He orbited the Earth three times and also gave NASA its first major scare. Technical problems and low fuel forced Carpenter to manually bring the ...

© La Voix de l'Amérique - jeudi 10 octobre 2013