On May 24, 1962, the tiny spacecraft Aurora 7 carried Scott Carpenter into space, American history, and a lifetime of controversy. For Spacious Skies offers this Mercury astronaut's never-before-told account of life at NASA. He takes us through the mysteries of the selection process, to the desert for survival training, into the simulator, and onto the contour couch. He describes, in stunning detail, the flight that made him the second American to orbit the Earth.

During the early days of the space program, each mission helped to determine NASA's research progress, the efficiency of its design, and its status in the race to the moon; when Aurora 7 began to malfunction, everyone at hand frantically tried to detect the cause. What was ultimately found to be a glitch in Aurora 7's pitch horizon scanner forced the astronaut to overshoot his expected landing site by 250 miles and later brought all decisions made during the flight under intense scrutiny. Scott Carpenter, with his daughter, Kris Stoever, clears up all lingering questions about his flight while telling the history of an amazing frontier family and the strength of the American pioneer spirit.

"A rich story of remarkable accomplishment and sacrifice. Not only do we learn about the early years of space travel, we learn how one man became one of America's modern heroes."
--John Glenn

"For Spacious Skies is more than the adventures of the Mercury astronaut and Deep Submergence aquanaut Scott Carpenter. It is the heart-breaking story of a family torn apart and a boy called Buddy who flew solo into space, and lived for an eternity in the depths of the sea, looking for his father."
-- Tom Wolfe, author of The Right Stuff

"By many miles the best memoir of Project Mercury. For Spacious Skies is a
splendid, writerly combination of personal and national journeying, full of
thoughtfulness, thrills, and a deep, dignified emotion. For anyone who
remembers the first light of the space age—or had the bad luck of being too
young to live through it—this is the indispensable book."
--Thomas Mallon, author of Aurora 7 and Mrs. Paine's Garage

Scott Carpenter was one of the seven original "Right Stuff" astronauts. The fourth American in space and the second to orbit the Earth, he went on to participate in the U.S. Navy's pioneering Man-in-the-Sea program (Sealabs I, II, and III) as an underwater explorer and researcher.

Kris Stoever was six years old in 1962 when her father, Scott Carpenter, rocketed into space. A graduate of Georgetown, she has worked as an editor and writer.