Gordon Cooper Mercury 7 Astronauts
Gordon cooper was an american aerospace engineer test pilot and the youngest of seven astronauts in nasas project mercury.
Gordon cooper mercury 7 astronauts. On his last flight gemini 5 cooper and crewmate pete conrad set what was then a world endurance. Gordon cooper jr born march 6 1927 shawnee oklahoma usdied october 4 2004 ventura california one of the original team of seven us. Gordon cooper was a nasa astronaut who flew twice in space during the mercury and gemini programs.
On may 1516 1963 he circled earth 22 times in the space capsule faith 7 completing the sixth and last of the mercury crewed spaceflights. Some of coopers other actions while he was an astronaut werent exactly honest either. For appearances they got back together so that gordon looked more wholesome for the media.
The mercury seven were the group of seven astronauts selected to fly spacecraft for project mercurythey are also referred to as the original seven and astronaut group 1their names were publicly announced by nasa on april 9 1959. Gordon cooper was a nasa astronaut who flew twice in space during the mercury and gemini programs. Gordon cooper in full leroy gordon cooper jr also called l.
While this might change our perception of the famous astronauts we grew up to idolize it doesnt change the fact that these men were in fact heroic. On his last flight gemini 5 cooper and crewmate pete conrad set what was then a world endurance. Leroy gordon gordo cooper jr.
In may 1963 cooper piloted the faith 7 spacecraft on a 22 orbit mission that concluded the mercury project and logged more time in space than all five previous mercury astronauts combined. These seven original american astronauts were scott carpenter gordon cooper john glenn gus grissom wally schirra alan shepard and deke slayton. Gordon cooper colin odonoghue allegedly also cheated on his wife who left him because of it.
In 1963 cooper flew on the final mercury mission and became the last us astronaut to fly alone in space.