Comments on: Congress can agree on something: honoring a Mercury astronaut http://www.spacepolitics.com/2013/10/13/congress-can-agree-on-something-honoring-a-mercury-astronaut/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=congress-can-agree-on-something-honoring-a-mercury-astronaut Because sometimes the most important orbit is the Beltway... Wed, 17 Sep 2014 13:35:41 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.38 By: DCSCA http://www.spacepolitics.com/2013/10/13/congress-can-agree-on-something-honoring-a-mercury-astronaut/#comment-437542 Sun, 13 Oct 2013 22:28:28 +0000 http://www.spacepolitics.com/?p=6645#comment-437542 Carpenter embraced the curiosity that drives exploration– be it above the stratosphere or beneath the sea. Time has eroded the hard facts surrounding the technical glitches plaging Mercury– all the flights had them. That was the state of the art on the edge of the New Frontier at that time.

The missile reliability was about 65%– per Chris Kraft– in the Mercury days so the courage in self and confidence in others displayed by Carpenter– indeed all of the Mercury astronauts- is undeniable. More importantly, there was a kind of calming comfort for Cold War America at that time seeing that famous photo of seven men in their silver pressure suits and white helmets, eager to mount the Mercury steed and joust with the Russian bear in space. For the bulk of American public at that time, that’s what it was all about. To meet the challenge, to compete– and yes, to show the flag.

Ad Astra Scott Carpenter. And yes… Godspeed.

]]> By: Malmesbury http://www.spacepolitics.com/2013/10/13/congress-can-agree-on-something-honoring-a-mercury-astronaut/#comment-437535 Sun, 13 Oct 2013 21:21:49 +0000 http://www.spacepolitics.com/?p=6645#comment-437535 An official “set the record straight” about the hardware problems on MA-7 which caused the overshoot of the landing area would be nice.

Or is that too much to ask?

]]>