Space exploration rooted in Boulder's past
By Silvia Pettem
Astronaut Scott Carpenter was a Boulder native, chosen as one of NASA's original "Mercury 7" astronauts and the second American to orbit the Earth. Some accounts state that he named his "Aurora 7" space capsule after the seven astronauts and the word "aurora," to represent the first light of dawn.
He grew up, though, in a stately two-story brick house at 907 7th Street, on the northwest corner of Aurora Avenue and Seventh Street. For Boulder residents, the space capsule's name seems more than a coincidence.
Other of Carpenter's Boulder connections are more down to earth, as his mother Florence, along with aunts, uncles, and grandparents are buried in Green Mountain Cemetery.
Scott's maternal grandfather, Victor Noxon, had moved his family to Boulder from Idaho Springs in 1908, so the children could attend the University of Colorado. Victor was the founder of the Boulder County Farmer and Miner newspaper that he continued to publish until his death in 1939.
At the time of the move, daughter Florence was 8 years old and the sixth of nine children. In 1925, she married (Marion) Scott Carpenter. Their son (Malcolm) Scott Carpenter was born that same year. The couple soon separated and eventually divorced.
Florence and son Scott moved in with the Noxons where they remained throughout Scott's childhood. In 1940, Florence housed game birds on an adjacent lot. After her mother, Clara, died in 1941, Florence and her siblings sold the 7th Street home. At the time, Scott was attending Boulder High School, and Florence found another house for them nearby.
After high school (class of 1943), Scott joined the Navy. Like many young veterans who returned from World War II, he then attended the University of Colorado. He married, became a naval aviator, and then joined the space program.
By this time, Florence had settled into a trailer in the Mapleton Trailer Park, where she lived when Scott orbited the Earth in 1962. She told news reporters that his splashdown was "the happiest moment" of her life.
Less than six months later, Florence died at the age of 62 and joined her family in the "Noxon" family plot. Scott died in 2013 at the age of 88 and is buried in Steamboat Springs. In Boulder, his name lingers on at Scott Carpenter Park. Though less well-known, the "Aurora 7" house and Green Mountain Cemetery also keep Boulder rooted in the early era of space exploration.
Silvia Pettem writes books and articles on local history and can be contacted through her website, silviapettem.com