Mercury-Atlas 7

Mercury-Atlas 7

Carpenter entering his MA-7 capsule, Aurora 7
Mission type	Test flight
Operator	NASA
Harvard designation	1962 Tau 1
COSPAR ID	1962-019A
SATCAT no.	295
Mission duration	4 hours, 56 minutes, 5 seconds
Distance travelled	122,344 kilometers (76,021 mi)
Orbits completed	3
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Mercury No.18
Manufacturer	McDonnell Aircraft
Launch mass	1,350.0 kilograms (2,976.2 lb)
Crew
Crew size	1
Members	M. Scott Carpenter
Callsign	Aurora 7
Start of mission
Launch date	May 24, 1962, 12:45:16 (1962-05-24UTC12:45:16Z) UTC
Rocket	Atlas LV-3B 107-D
Launch site	Cape Canaveral LC-14
End of mission
Recovered by	USS Intrepid[1]
Landing date	May 24, 1962, 17:41:21 (1962-05-24UTC17:41:22Z) UTC
Landing site	North-east of Puerto Rico, Caribbean Sea
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude	154 kilometers (83 nmi)
Apogee altitude	259 kilometers (140 nmi)
Inclination	32.5 degrees
Period	88.63 minutes
Epoch	May 24, 1962[2]
Malcolm Scott Carpenter Project Mercury Crewed missions ← Mercury-Atlas 6 Mercury-Atlas 8 →

Mercury-Atlas 7, launched May 24, 1962, was the fourth crewed flight of Project Mercury. The spacecraft, named Aurora 7, was piloted by astronaut Scott Carpenter. He was the sixth human to fly in space. The mission used Mercury spacecraft No. 18 and Atlas launch vehicle No. 107-D.

The flight was for three Earth orbits, essentially a repeat of John Glenn's Mercury-Atlas 6. However, a targeting error during reentry took the spacecraft 250 miles (400 km) off-course, delaying recovery of Carpenter and the spacecraft for an hour. Carpenter was held responsible, at least in part, for the landing error. Carpenter left NASA for the Navy SEALAB program in 1964.