Scott Carpenter, second astronaut to orbit the earth, has passed away peacefully, and with him memories of a time when Man reached for the stars, encased in tiny capsules..amongst the first to view this world of ours beyond the atmosphere..and to behold the true glory of of the heavens.
I was seven years old when Man walked on the Moon…and God grant me the privilege of seeing the day when we once more set foot into the starry unknown.
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds – and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,
I’ve topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew –
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
– Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee
No 412 squadron, RCAF
Killed 11 December 1941
Love that poem Brendan and thank you for the tribute to him. I met him when I was about 9 years old, that would have been in 1963 or 64. He lived in Colorado and was at a local shopping mall when my mom recognized him, she introduced my sister and me and he shook our hands…..I remember him as… Read more »
These pioneers were certainly the best of the best. Look at their longevity alone. Makes me a bit jealous for their wives. 🙂 The early orbiters were before my time. During a school field trip we were able to visit the Air Force Museum in Ohio and actually get inside one. The reality of this thing, the seat, the dials,… Read more »
Godspeed, Scott Carpenter.
May the wind be ever at your back and may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Fare well.
It is truly a shame that Obama has gutted NASA and everything these brave men lived for.
LC Gladiator says: It is truly a shame that Obama has gutted NASA and everything these brave men lived for. my mom used to bring a TV to our school classroom to watch every spaceshot when I was a kid….it was a big thing. I was awestruck at the vision of the space program in 2001 A Space Oddysey, and… Read more »
Obama doesn’t like America’s achievements. Chimpie’s socialist educrats teach that real accomplishment is working for the fucking government.