Carter has had a passion for space exploration his entire life. He read Isaac Asimov's "How Did We Find Out About Black Holes" when he was 7 (and still has the book!), and received his first telescope when he was 10. He didn't even let the Navy interfere with his interest in space, using the periscope of his submarine while in port to observe Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997. He currently volunteers at Chicago's Adler Planetarium, where he shows patrons the wonders of the sun, moon, planets, and other heavenly bodies in the Doane Observatory.