Posted on 10/05/2004 12:41:51 PM PDT by Sthitch
LOS ANGELES - Gordon Cooper, who was the youngest and perhaps cockiest member of the original Mercury astronauts and set the space endurance record that helped clear the way for the first moon landing, has died. He was 77.
Cooper died Monday at his home in Ventura, NASA officials said in a statement. He died of natural causes, said Mitch Breese, of the county medical examiner's office.
''As one of the original seven Mercury astronauts, Gordon Cooper was one of the faces of America's fledgling space program,'' said NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe. ''He truly portrayed the right stuff, and he helped gain the backing and enthusiasm of the American public, so critical for the spirit of exploration.''
As one of the nation's first astronauts, Cooper became a hero to Americans in the early 1960s as the country tried to catch the Soviet Union in the space race.
On May 15, 1963, Cooper piloted Faith 7, the Mercury program's last flight, circling the globe 22 times in 34 hours and 20 minutes. The mission made him the last astronaut to orbit Earth alone and the first to take a nap during the journey.
Cooper became the first man to make a second orbital flight two years later during the Gemini 5 mission, when he and Charles Conrad established a space endurance record by traveling more than 3.3 million miles in 190 hours, 56 minutes.
The flight proved humans could survive in a weightless state for the length of a trip to the moon and tested a new power source for future flights - fuel cells. It also let the United States take the lead in the space race by surpassing the Soviet Union in man-hours in orbit.
Cooper's rambunctious attitude was immortalized in Tom Wolfe's book The Right Stuff and the 1983 movie of the same name.
Cooper gave his signature line during a 1995 reunion of surviving Mercury astronauts. When asked who was the greatest fighter pilot he ever saw, Cooper enthusiastically answered, ''You're looking at him!''
''Gordon Cooper's legacy is permanently woven into the fabric of the Kennedy Space Center as a Mercury Seven astronaut,'' said center director Jim Kennedy. ''His achievements helped build the foundation of success for human space flight that NASA and KSC have benefited from for the past four decades.''
Three of the original Mercury astronauts are still alive - John Glenn, Scott Carpenter and Wally Schirra.
Cooper, born March 6, 1927, in Shawnee, Okla., joined the Marines during World War II and transferred to the Air Force in 1949. He earned a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1956.
He then flew numerous flights as a test pilot in the Flight Test Division at Edwards Air Force Base near Los Angeles. Cooper was selected as a Mercury astronaut in April 1959.
Gordon is survived by his wife, Suzan, and their children
Hell, he took a nap during the countdown!
Go, Hotdog, GO!
Well done, Gordo. Enjoy that final ride.
I'm still looking at him, from afar. Godspeed, Gordo.
So long Gordo! Godspeed!
Who were the original seven: Cooper, Grissom, Shepard, Schirra, Glenn, Carpenter, and ??
Deke Slayton?
sorry for the obigatory joke in advance
4 of the Mercury 7 have now slipped the surly bonds of Earth and touched the face of God.
Gus Grissom -- 1926 - 1967
Deke Slatyon -- 1924 - 1993
Alan Shepard -- 1923 - 1998
Gordon Cooper -- 1927 - 2004
You are correct, sir. Old Deke and Gus. Great names for two of America's pioneer space travellers.
Isn't Scott Carpenter Dead??
I live in Mr. Cooper's birthplace, where the local vo-tech is named for him.
RIP to a great American.
I wouldn't have known other than the article posted says he is still alive.
Good-bye Gordo from one of those who grew up in the 50's,60s...I remember sitting in my 3rd grade class and watching John Glenn on an old black and white TV - have we come a long way! Godspeed to an American Hero and now you can again reach out and touch the face of God.
Ed White?
Watched some of the reruns of FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON on Sunday.... really brought back the memories of the nuns letting us watch the launches back in grade school. The whole space program has to rank as one of the greatest engineering achievements in the history of mankind. I'm not sure we could do it again right now even with our thousand-fold advances in information processing, communications technology, etc etc. People should never forget that we did it.
Correct, it was Deke Slayton. Slayton was grounded for an irregular heartbeat, or some such nonsense. He finally flew as command pilot of the Apollo/Soyuz mission.
I believe Ed White and Pete Conrad missed the Mercury selection but did make it for Gemini and Apollo. Of course Ed White died in the Apollo I fire with Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee. If you haven't read THE RIGHT STUFF it's a great retelling of the Mercury program.
Ed White was in the "next nine".
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