astronaut

In May 1962, Scott Carpenter became the second American astronaut, after John Glenn, to orbit the Earth - and the first to survive  a series of mishaps that might have ended in catastrophe.

This is a guest post by Abigail Harrison. Otherwise known as Astronaut Abby, Abby  is a 15-year-old high school STEM student and aspiring astronaut whose ultimate goal is to be the first astronaut to Mars in 2030.  

If you were around on July 20, 1969, you probably spent that evening as an estimated 500 million others around the world did, eyes glued to our TV screens as we watched astronaut Neil Armstrong climb down from the Apollo 11 lunar module and take the first steps by a human on the surface of the Moon.