William Carpentier (born 1935/36, Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian-American physician best known as the

flight surgeon A flight surgeon is a military medical officer practicing in the clinical field of aviation medicine. Although the term "flight surgery" is considered improper by purists, it may occasionally be encountered. Flight surgeons are physicians ( MD ...

assigned to the United States'

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...

mission, the first manned spacecraft to land on

the Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the List of natural satellites, fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth ( ...

. Carpentier says that this was the highlight of his career. In the months following the Apollo 11 mission, Carpentier became known as a world famous physician. He later went into

nuclear medicine Nuclear medicine or nucleology is a medical specialty involving the application of radioactive substances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Nuclear imaging, in a sense, is "radiology done inside out" because it records radiation emitting ...

research. Carpentier is a recipient of the

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merito ...

, with which he was decorated for his role in the

Apollo 13 Apollo 13 (April 1117, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted aft ...

mission.

Early life and education

William Carpentier was born in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, Alberta and raised in Lake Cowichan, British Columbia. His mother was Canadian and his father was a

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

er who had to forfeit his United States citizenship during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

due to his enlistment in the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...

. Carpentier attended Lake Cowichan Secondary School and went on to study at Victoria College. In 1961 he graduated from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

School of Medicine. According to Carpentier, the achievements of Alan Shepard and Yuri Gagarin piqued his interest in space exploration and, after medical school, he moved to

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

to pursue additional studies in aviation medicine at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

Career

Carpentier was selected as a flight surgeon trainee by the U.S.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding th ...

(NASA) in January 1965 and made a staff flight surgeon the following July. According to Carpentier, he attempted to apply for appointment to the

Astronaut Corps Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be ...

, however, found that as a Canadian he was ineligible to do so. Though he considered renouncing his citizenship, he chose not to after learning the process for naturalization as an American would take several years. Apollo-11-quarantine-7

He ultimately served as a medical staff member assigned to several

Gemini mission Project Gemini () was NASA's second human spaceflight program. Conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, Gemini started in 1961 and concluded in 1966. The Gemini spacecraft carried a two-astronaut crew. Ten Gemini crews and 16 individual a ...

s and Apollo missions, including as flight surgeon for Apollo 11 and Apollo 13. During the recovery of Apollo 11 astronauts

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. ...

Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...

, and

Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin (; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. As the Lunar Module ''Eagle'' pilot on the 1969 A ...

from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, Carpentier was assigned to Helicopter 66, the primary rescue helicopter which ferried the men to the waiting . Both Carpentier and NASA engineer

John Hirasaki John Hirasaki (born 1941) is an American mechanical engineer who worked for the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) during the Apollo 11 mission, the first crewed mission to the Moon. In 1969 he – along with Buzz ...

– who had come into contact with

Moon dust Lunar soil is the fine fraction of the regolith found on the surface of the Moon. Its properties can differ significantly from those of terrestrial soil. The physical properties of lunar soil are primarily the result of mechanical disintegra ...

– were confined with the astronauts for their 21-day

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

. In the period following their release from isolation, the publicity demands on Armstrong, Collins, and Aldrin became so great that Carpentier was sometimes pressed into service to make public appearances in their place after a

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

publicist concluded that the physician "was famous enough". During travel on

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used ...

he would be registered by crew into the flight

manifest Manifest may refer to: Computing * Manifest file, a metadata file that enumerates files in a program or package * Manifest (CLI), a metadata text file for CLI assemblies Events * Manifest (convention), a defunct anime festival in Melbourne, Aus ...

under the initials "WFP" for "world famous physician", a

moniker A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

that would stay with him for life. In 1973, after completing a fellowship in

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

, Carpentier entered the private sector as a researcher at

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

' Scott & White Healthcare, spending thirty years there before retiring in 2003. Following retirement, Carpentier returned to NASA as a consultant studying the

cardiovascular system The blood circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the entire body of a human or other vertebrate. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, tha ...

s of astronauts. In 2012, Carpentier returned to the former U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS ''Hornet'' – where he had been quarantined with Armstrong, Collins, and Aldrin 43 years before – to participate in a memorial service for the recently deceased Armstrong.

Personal life

Carpentier is married. As of 2013 he was living in Belton, Texas.

Legacy

Carpentier was decorated with the

for his work on

and, in 2013, received the University of British Columbia Alumni Award of Distinction. A fountain at Lake Cowichan's Central Park is dedicated to Carpentier.

Notes

References

External links

film of Carpentier entering quarantine with Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carpentier, William Canadian emigrants to the United States Apollo 11 Apollo 13 Living people NASA people Physicians from Texas People from Edmonton People from the Cowichan Valley Regional District People from Belton, Texas University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine alumni Victoria College, British Columbia alumni Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Ohio State University alumni Year of birth uncertain 1930s births