Project Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter relaxes aboard the recovery helicopter following his 5-hour trip aboard the Aurora 7 spacecraft. Carpenter became the second American to orbit the earth on May 24, 1962. Recovery took a bit longer than planned after Carpenter overshot the planned landing target by 290 miles.
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Interesting to note that Carpenter becomes the second astronaut to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his flight. In June, Valery Bykovski and Valentina Tereshkova will do the same. It won’t be until 2015 at the earliest for other possible “50th anniversaries.”
The flight of Voskhod 1 will reach its 50th anniversary on October 13, 2014.
Yes, but all three cosmonauts (Komarov, Feoktistov and Yegorov) are all deceased. I meant to refer to those living astronauts/cosmonauts who would be around to celebrate the 50th anniversary.