The recent return of astronauts from the International Space Station recalls the excitement in Boulder on May 24, 1962, when Boulder native Scott Carpenter became the second American (after John Glenn) to orbit the Earth.

While Scott was in space, his mother was sequestered in her home in Boulder’s Mapleton Trailer Park. She soon became a celebrity.

Scott splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean. But the big splash, in the Boulder press, was the coverage of his mother, Florence. Reporters hung on her every word.

In the weeks leading up to the event (and long before the days of the Internet and satellite dishes), television companies set up a makeshift tower next to Florence’s trailer so that reporters could broadcast from outside her home.

The media frenzy began a week prior to liftoff. The Camera commented on Florence’s demeanor with headlines that included, “Astronaut’s mother is keeping calm.”

In a prepared statement, she told reporters, “The magnificence of the experience he [Scott] is going to have is so great that it would erase any apprehension I might have.”

Privately, she had a mother’s concern for her son, and Boulder officials had concerns for her. According to Patrolman Harold See of the Boulder Police Department, Florence needed protection in case her son became so much of a hero that his mother would be held for ransom.

Patrolman See and his sergeant, Gaynor “Tiny” Walker, were hired to guard her. At the time, Florence was employed by the Boulder Community Hospital where she was head of the medical records department. To avoid the onslaught of photographers, she spent the night before the flight at the hospital.

At 4:30 the next morning, the two police officers picked her up and drove her to her trailer. They all had coffee, then Florence secluded herself with three family friends.

Meanwhile, two additional television sets were installed in her trailer so ABC, NBC, and CBS could all be on at the same time.Reporters for all three networks huddled outside, waiting for a glimpse of Florence. She later told them that she found the liftoff exciting, but she admitted to feeling anxious and tense during the capsule’s re-entry.

Florence’s words were relayed from the tower to another temporary tower at the University of Colorado. There, in the Glenn Miller Ballroom, NBC set up a large screen and relayed broadcasts to Denver for transmission all over the country and overseas.

After the splashdown, Florence stated, “Today we have seen courage, determination, dedication, and power of the United States, and we know now why we shall never be buried.” The splashdown, she added, was the happiest moment of her life. Only then did Florence step into the glare of television cameras before being escorted to the CU press conference.

Years later, Patrolman See stated, “Mrs. [Florence] Carpenter gave me two plastic piggy banks in the shape of space capsules for my children in return for my staying with her.” Less than six months later, she died at the age of 62 and is buried in Boulder’s Green Mountain Cemetery.

Scott died in 2013 at the age of 88. He’s buried in Steamboat Springs, but his name lingers on at Boulder’s Scott Carpenter Park, including its playground and swimming pool. Scott often was called a “hometown hero,” but his mother was in the spotlight, too.

Silvia Pettem’s In Retrospect column appears once a month. She can be reached at silviapettem@gmail.com or through her website, silviapettem.com.