Space pioneer Scott Carpenter performing the second US orbital mission on board Aurora 7, May 1962

Four vintage gelatin silver prints on fiber-based paper, printed 1962, each numbered "NASA S-62-1405", "NASA S-62-1407", "NASA S-62-2849", "NASA S-62-2851" in black in top margin, with NASA captions on verso (NASA HQ), each 20,3 x 25,4 cm, 2 prints with a light crease,(4)

First and second photographs: Scott Carpenter preparing for the second US manned orbital flight Mercury Atlas 7 during suit testing at Langley Air force Base after he was selected as the prime pilot.

Third photograph: the Aurora 7 spacecraft mated to an Atlas rocket is launched from Pad 14, Cape Canaveral, at 07:45:00 a.m. EST on May 24, 1962.

Fourth photograph: recovery of Scott Carpenter and the Aurora 7 spacecraft in the Atlantic Ocean on May 24, 1962.

The Aurora 7 capsule reentered after completing 3 orbits, coming down in the Atlantic Ocean some 200 km northeast of Puerto Rico, about 400 km beyond the planned impact point. The overshoot was traced to a 25 degree yaw error at the time the retrograde rockets were fired. Retrofire was also about 3 s late, accounting for about 20 miles of the overshoot. The duration of the flight was 4 h 56 min 5 s during which Carpenter traveled over 121,600 km. Carpenter was picked up after 2 h 59 min in the water and returned by helicopter to the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid. (https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1962-019A).