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[Lila Belle]

From NBC news:

Carpenter's death leaves Glenn, 92, as the last living member of the Mercury 7, NASA's first group of astronauts.

Carpenter was the backup for the Friendship 7 mission on Feb. 20, 1962, which made Glenn the first American in Earth orbit. It was Carpenter who radioed, "Godspeed, John Glenn," from NASA's Cape Canaveral blockhouse as his colleague headed for history.

Carpenter became the second American in orbit on May 24, 1962, when he piloted his Aurora 7 capsule through three orbits. During that flight, he became the first American to eat solid food in space (in the form of energy snacks called "Space Food Sticks").

"When he went into orbit, instead of just worrying about being a test pilot, he was trying to analyze everything that was happening up there," Barbree said. "That's why I call him the first scientist-astronaut."

Aurora 7 was Carpenter's only spaceflight: He was removed from flight status after breaking his arm in a motorcycle accident in 1964, and left NASA in 1967.

In addition to his astronaut experience, the former naval aviator participated in the Navy's SeaLab underwater training program as an aquanaut.