Gordon Cooper

Gordon Cooper
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Name	Gordon Cooper
Caption	Cooper in his NASA spacesuit
Type	NASA Astronaut
Nationality	American
Status	Deceased
Birth date	6 March 1927
Birth place	Shawnee, Oklahoma
Death date	4 October 2004
Death place	Ventura, California
Occupation	Test pilot, Aerospace engineer
Rank	Colonel, United States Air Force
Selection	1959 NASA Group 1
Time	9d 09h 14m
Mission	Mercury-Atlas 9, Gemini 5
Insignia	40px 40px

Gordon Cooper was an American aerospace engineer, test pilot, and one of the pioneering NASA astronauts selected for Project Mercury. He flew the final and longest mission of the Mercury program, Mercury-Atlas 9, and later commanded the record-setting Gemini 5 flight, which proved astronauts could live in space for the duration of a trip to the Moon. His career in aviation and space exploration was marked by significant contributions to the early U.S. human spaceflight program and a reputation for exceptional piloting skill.

Early life and education

Leroy Gordon Cooper Jr. was born on March 6, 1927, in Shawnee, Oklahoma. His father, a United States Air Force officer, fostered an early interest in aviation, leading Cooper to earn his pilot's license as a teenager. He attended secondary schools in Hawaii and Murray, Kentucky, before graduating from Shawnee High School. Cooper briefly studied at the University of Hawaii before enlisting in the United States Marine Corps in 1945, though World War II ended before he saw overseas deployment. He subsequently transferred to the United States Army, serving in Japan before receiving an appointment to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. After graduating in 1949 with a Bachelor of Science degree, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force.

NASA career

In April 1959, Cooper was selected as one of the original seven Mercury astronauts, a group famously known as the "Mercury Seven." He served as CAPCOM for John Glenn's historic Friendship 7 mission and as backup pilot for Wally Schirra's Sigma 7 flight. His technical expertise and calm demeanor under pressure were highly valued within NASA, and he played a key role in spacecraft design and pilot-vehicle interface development. Cooper's assignments positioned him for command of the final Project Mercury mission, a critical solo flight intended to push the duration limits of the Mercury spacecraft.

Mercury-Atlas 9 (Faith 7) mission

On May 15-16, 1963, Cooper piloted Mercury-Atlas 9 in his spacecraft, which he named Faith 7. The mission lasted over 34 hours, completing 22 orbits of the Earth and demonstrating that astronauts could function in space for extended periods. The flight was not without drama; near the end, a series of electrical failures caused a complete loss of automatic controls. Cooper manually calculated his re-entry burn using markings on the spacecraft window and aligned the capsule by hand, executing a nearly perfect splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near the recovery ship, the USS ''Kearsarge''. This display of piloting skill cemented his legacy and provided crucial data for future Gemini program missions.

Gemini 5 mission

As command pilot of Gemini 5 in August 1965, Cooper, alongside pilot Pete Conrad, set a new space endurance record of nearly eight days. The primary goal was to validate the fuel cells needed for longer Apollo program missions and to practice orbital rendezvous techniques using a simulated target. Despite issues with the fuel cell and a rendezvous radar pod, the crew successfully completed most of their objectives. The mission proved human physiological tolerance for a round-trip to the Moon and was a vital confidence-builder for NASA, directly paving the way for the more complex Gemini 6A and Gemini 7 missions.

Later life and death

After leaving NASA and retiring from the United States Air Force with the rank of colonel in 1970, Cooper pursued various business interests in aerospace and technology. He was a co-founder of a firm involved in designing advanced aircraft and also worked as a consultant for The Walt Disney Company and other corporations. In his later years, he became known for his advocacy regarding UFO research, recounting personal observations during his military and space career. Gordon Cooper died of heart failure on October 4, 2004, at his home in Ventura, California, and was buried at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, Texas.

Category:American astronauts Category:Mercury astronauts Category:1927 births Category:2004 deaths