Mercury-Atlas 7
Mercury-Atlas 7 carried Scott Carpenter aboard Aurora 7 on May 24, 1962. Launched from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 14, Carpenter completed three Earth orbits in nearly five hours, becoming the second American to orbit Earth. The flight repeated key Mercury operational tests while expanding scientific observation. Carpenter studied liquid behaviour in weightlessness, photographed Earth and weather, and observed atmospheric airglow. An inflatable-sphere experiment intended to investigate visibility and atmospheric drag was only partly successful. A failed pitch horizon scanner affected automatic attitude control, requiring the pilot to compensate during the flight. Aurora 7 landed well beyond its intended Atlantic recovery area. Search aircraft located the capsule, and Carpenter waited in a life raft before a helicopter took him to USS Intrepid. The spacecraft was recovered separately. Despite the control problem and extended recovery, the mission met its primary objectives and supplied operational and scientific experience for Mercury's subsequent, longer orbital flights.
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Identity
- Aliases
- Aurora 7MA-7
- Name
- Mercury-Atlas 7
- Status
- completed
Details
- Astronauts
- Description
- Mercury-Atlas 7 carried Scott Carpenter aboard Aurora 7 on May 24, 1962. Launched from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 14, Carpenter completed three Earth orbits in nearly five hours, becoming the second American to orbit Earth. The flight repeated key Mercury operational tests while expanding scientific observation. Carpenter studied liquid behaviour in weightlessness, photographed Earth and weather, and observed atmospheric airglow. An inflatable-sphere experiment intended to investigate visibility and atmospheric drag was only partly successful. A failed pitch horizon scanner affected automatic attitude control, requiring the pilot to compensate during the flight. Aurora 7 landed well beyond its intended Atlantic recovery area. Search aircraft located the capsule, and Carpenter waited in a life raft before a helicopter took him to USS Intrepid. The spacecraft was recovered separately. Despite the control problem and extended recovery, the mission met its primary objectives and supplied operational and scientific experience for Mercury's subsequent, longer orbital flights.
- Destination
- Earth orbit at approximately 166.8 × 99.9 statute miles for three revolutions, followed by splashdown at 19°29′N, 64°05′W in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 250 nautical miles beyond the intended recovery area.
- End Date
- 1962-05-24
- Launch Site
- Outcome
- Successful second U.S. orbital flight. Scott Carpenter completed three Earth orbits and all primary mission objectives aboard Aurora 7 during a 4-hour, 56-minute, 5-second flight. A pitch-horizon-scanner malfunction was compensated for in flight without compromising mission success; the capsule overshot its intended recovery area by 250 nautical miles, but Carpenter was recovered safely.
- Programs
- Start Date
- 1962-05-24
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- Creation Time
- June 29, 2026 at 04:59:46 UTC
- Updated Time
- October 29, 2026 at 15:49:18 UTC
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