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For Spacious Skies: The Uncommon Journey of a Mercury Astronaut Hardcover – 2002

by Scott Carpenter (Author), Kris Stoever (Author)

25 customer reviews

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Coming from a family of early Colorado pioneers, astronaut Scott Carpenter grew up with a vibrant frontier tradition of exploration. He went on to become one of seven Project Mercury astronauts to take part in America's burgeoning space program in the 1960s. Here he writes of the pioneering science, training, and biomedicine of early space flight and tells the heart-stopping tale of his famous spaceflight aboard Aurora 7.

Carpenter also shares a family story of tenderness and fortitude. Raised by his grandparents in Boulder, Colorado, while his mother lay sick for years with tuberculosis, Carpenter witnessed bravery, love, sacrifice, and endurance that prepared him for life as a Navy pilot during two wars, service to country as a Mercury astronaut, and finally as a pioneering underwater explorer.

Written with his daughter, Kris Stoever, For Spacious Skies tells a wonderful American family story filled with never-before-told insider tales from the earliest days of NASA and, for the first time ever, Carpenter's own account of his controversial flight and splashdown.

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Product Details

Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1 edition (2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0151004676
ISBN-13: 978-0151004676
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #251,156 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #133 in Books > Engineering & Transportation > Engineering > Aerospace > Astronautics & Space Flight
- #299 in Books > Science & Math > Astronomy & Space Science > Aeronautics & Astronautics
- #523 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Scientists

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Customer Reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars

5 star		48%
4 star		32%
3 star		8%
2 star		8%
1 star		4%

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful

Worth the Long Wait

By Colin Burgess on December 28, 2002

Format: Hardcover

My interest in manned spacecraft was first piqued by the much-delayed Mercury flight of John Glenn, and I followed the subsequent 1962 mission of Scott Carpenter aboard his Aurora 7 spacecraft with even greater enthusiasm. As the decades passed and other Mercury astronauts wrote their autobiographies, I began to wonder if Scott Carpenter was ever going to tell his story, which I have always found to be far more exciting and multi-dimensional than those told by most of his colleagues. I was certainly not disappointed. "For Spacious Skies" is a truly wonderful and well written book, and gives an enjoyable background to a man about whom there has often been much speculation and interest - particularly in recent years when a certain NASA flight controller decided to vent his spleen on Carpenter and his Mercury mission in his own memoirs. This book is, in part, an obvious response to this criticism, and certainly clears the decks in many ways. Better written and far more readable than most of the other Mercury Seven astronaut biographies, this is a touching and often dramatic account of the life of a man who is regarded as one of the true pioneers and adventurers of spaceflight. Dealt many poor hands in life, he nevertheless seized his opportunities when they came along, and his resolve comes through loud and clear in this book. While many space enthusiasts and historians know that Scott Carpenter's story will, sadly, never be free of the controversies that attend his life and his single Mercury orbital mission, his flight should nevertheless be remembered as a very important and major contribution to the state of spaceflight knowledge in those early days, when brave men rode rockets that had a worrying reputation for blowing up.Read more ›

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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful

A Star in the Sky

By R. Glueck on January 20, 2003

Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase

Scott Carpenter's autobiography, written with his daughter, Kris Stoever, is the last, long awaited testament from the Mercury astronauts. Along with Deke Slayton's and Mike Cassutt's "Deke!", it is possibly the most informative of these rememberances. The book is more accurately detailed than "Schirra's Space", better grounded in facts than Shepard's "Moon Shot", more interactive than John Glenn's memoir, and ...uh...let's say, far surpasses Cooper's "Keeping Faith".
Carpenter's book is footnoted throughout, and the authors have made many references to other credible manuscripts to support their recollections of the time. Personal recollections from Gene Kranz are referenced at least once, and both John Glenn and Wally Schirra proofread the manuscript prior to publication.
Scott Carpenter's life has been overall, a great experience tinged with personal losses. His parents lived apart, his mother suffered from t.b., his father's approval always needed to be earned. Marriage's have brought the promise of secure relationships, but have not lasted over time. One senses the deepest loss in his relationship with Rene, who documented much of his personal history and the contemporary truths of the Mercury years. The overall sense is that two sharply intellectual adults somehow outgrew each other, when they still complimented the other so well. Rene's journals, it is revealed, provided Tom Wolfe with a great deal of his impressions for "The Right Stuff", some of which was re-written as "the wrong stuff" according to Carpenter and Stoever.
Of course, the real meat of the book is Scott's recollection of the mission of "Aurora 7", and the keen disappointment in having to displace Deke Slayton in what should have been his moment of glory.Read more ›

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26 of 29 people found the following review helpful

We Finally Hear Carpenter's Story

By Eric B. Smith on August 17, 2003

Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase

Scott Carpenter has the worst reputation of the Mercury Seven. Chris Kraft's book "Flight" dedicates a complete chapter to attacking Carpenter. Using numerous footnotes, the book references many NASA reports which cite a mechanical failure which nearly doomed his mission.
The book seems to be a family history written by Carpenter's daughter, Kris Stoever. Thus, the reader must adjust to reading about Carpenter in the third person. Carpenter does take over in the chapters about his flight, writing in the first person. Adding to the difficulty reading the book, the writers assume that the reader can keep track of the year different events happened. However, the story is not chronilogical, so one must guess at the year when signifigant events (child birth, transfer to a new Navy base) occur. Too bad this book did not do a better job of completing the timeline for the reader. Particularly surprising his how Carpenter's last three marriages are summarized in a 6-line paragraph on the second to last page.
I recommend reading this book if you want to hear Carpenter's view of his flight. But be prepared to for a bumpy ride, as the book is not pulled together into the consistent story one would expect.

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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful

Interesting. But . . .

By Dave English VINE VOICE on May 12, 2003

Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase

I love reading about flying in space. And this book by a real hero is good. But not great. It is mostly written by his daughter, in the third person. You don't get that 'up close' feel. You get slighty dry text. I did learn about an amazing time, an amazing journey, but would have liked a little more.

If you love this subject, then this is a must have book. But if are new to reading about the early space program, there are better books to start with. Follow some of the links, search a little, and then come back and get this book if you are hooked.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

Four Stars

thanks

Published 5 months ago by Barbara J Hambright

EARLY DAYS OF THE SPACE PROGRAM

Great book that tells the history of a great man. I visited his home and talked to him for many hours in the 1960s. John Glenn was his next door neighbor.

Published 20 months ago by Product Reviewer

perilous journey

unfortunately, the awkward writing gets in the way of what is a remarkable story. Kris Stoever must be trying to convince herself that she is an author but she didn't convince me.

Published on September 17, 2012 by nozama

He needed a hug

While the parts about his time at NASA were interesting and somewhat informative, the first fourth of the book depressingly focuses on how his mom was always sick, (and a sucker... Read more

Published on May 24, 2010 by Duke 1968

2nd American to orbit Earth,Deep Sea Lab Aquanaut, Hero

Scott Carpenter and Kris Stoever For Spacious Skies is a good book, with good pictures. Scott Carpenter's daughter Kris does a good job as author. Read more

Published on March 5, 2010 by Thomas Erickson

For Spacious Skies: The Uncommon Journey Of A Mercury Astronaut...

For Spacious Skies: The Uncommon Journey of a Mercury Astronaut was a very interesting story written by Scott Carpenter and his daughter which documents his life and mission. Read more

Published on June 7, 2009 by Keith Mirenberg

I love this book.

Since Gordon Cooper published his autobiography in the year 2000, there was only one Mercury astronaut remaining who had not written his own book about his space experiences. Read more

Published on February 8, 2009 by AReader

Not Sitting on the Beach...

Scott Carpenter and his daughter were "inspired" to write this book in response to Gene Kranz's characterizations of Carpenter in "Failure is Not An Option. Read more

Published on September 8, 2007 by John P Bernat

Not just about Mercury...

M. Scott Carpenter and his daughter Kris have certainly written a fascinating biography that is unlike most others I have read about astronauts. Read more

Published on December 25, 2006 by Jay M. Chladek

Good Read

If your reading the other Mercury books, add this one to the list.

Getting the book basically for the shipping is a great deal.

Published on August 24, 2006 by SCK