Space travel. Escaping this world to explore the vastness of the universe. As children, many people imagine themselves as astronauts, piercing through the highest clouds and leaving the Earth behind.
On Sept. 27, two men who did just that spoke at Winston-Salem State as part of the forum, “The Real Space Cowboys.” It was sponsored by Omega U.S., creators of the Speedmaster, the watch that was actually worn on the moon. An actual “moon watch” will be auctioned off by WSSU at a future date.
“They are true heroes in the world of space travel,” Winston-Salem mayor Allen Joines said of astronauts Scott Carpenter and native North Carolinian Charlie Duke.
Commander Carpenter entered the Mercury Program in 1966. He said that the testing of his aptitude to be an astronaut was interesting, but not painful.
“We were tested for everything,” Carpenter said. “There were so many unknowns in space.”
One of these examinations had him sitting in a chair, his feet in water filled with ice cubes, until he could no longer handle the sensation. Every form of stress possible for Carpenter to endure was tested by NASA.
Carpenter said one of his most grueling tests involved being dropped in the Sahara Desert for three days armed with nothing but a parachute and Band-Aids. He and a few others made tents and clothes out of the parachute material, surviving by eating lizards.
“That had nothing to do with being a space-cowboy,” Carpenter said with a chuckle.