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
Just look at what the Johns say about the money spent in Iraq that could have been transfer payments in search of a vote. Despite of what he says to try and win some Florida votes, John F'n Kerry will sacrifice NASA in a liberal minute. Never mind that every penny of the NASA budget is spent on earth. Never mind about the technological advancements that are an offshoot of such an endeavour. Never mind that we're only just becoming aware of how close we are to a cataclysmic asteroid strike (Hmmm, a bunker buster applied at just the right point?). No, we need to turn out social workers, not engineers (gag!).
"Who's the best pilot there ever was? You're lookin' at him!"
RIP Hotdog.
When I was working at KSC, one of my friends attended the grand opening of the Astronaut Museum at the Titusville entrance. (I think this was about ten years ago.) He got to meet the Mercury astronauts, and mentioned that Gordo looked "pretty bad" at the time.
It's sad to see these heroes go...
I'm sure you know this, but Jim Lovell made a cameo appearance in the movie "The Right Stuff". For some reason, I always get a little weepy when I see that part.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.