Mercury-Atlas 9/FAITH 7

Gordo Cooper closes out Project Mercury on a high note

 

Prime Crew: Leroy Gordon "Gordo" Cooper

Backup Crew: Alan B. Shepard, Jr.

May 15, 1963

22.5 Orbits

Spacecraft Name: "Faith 7"

Mercury-Atlas 9 Composite Air-to-Ground and Onboard Voice Tape Transcription

NASA pdf file

Adobe Acrobat Reader

  

 

 

Gordo Cooper was born on March 6, 1927, in Shawnee, Oklahoma. By the time of Mercury-Atlas 9, he was a Major in the U.S. Air Force. Before becoming a test pilot in the mid-1950s, Gordo flew F-84s and F-86s in Germany. He was the youngest of the Original 7-32 at the time of his selection-and when he was a kid, his pilot father got him hooked on flying. His dad, a former World War I aviator, also had friends like Wiley Post and Amelia Earhart. NASA Photo.

 

  

Believe it or not, Gordo Cooper was the only one of the Original 7 who owned and flew his own plane, a V-tail Beech Bonanza. (Wife Trudy was a licensed civilian pilot.) He was also a real auto racing fanatic who co-owned a car that raced on the Indy car circuit (later on, in 1966), in partnership with 1960 Indy 500 winner Jim Rathmann-by now a Florida Chevy dealer who gave the astronauts sweetheart deals on Corvettes. The team was called GCR, Inc., but they were never able to make the show at Indy. Gordo once tried to enter the 24 Hours of Daytona as a driver before NASA nixed the idea. NASA Photo.

 

  

Gordo in the simulator. Astronauts not only spent untold hours in sims, but also recieved a LOT of survival training in every type of climate and environment on Earth, because if something went wrong, you literally could have ended up landing anywhere on the planet. NASA Photo.

 

 

Gordo Cooper would be the last American to go into space alone, and the last man to ride an Atlas rocket. Although troublesome at first, the Atlas has acquitted itself well over time. It was used to launch the Agena target vehicles during project Gemini, and is still used to launch satellites and space probes to this day. NASA Photo.

 

  

After a launch attempt was scrubbed on May 14th due to weather and a couple of technical glitches, Gordo climbs into Faith 7 early the next day, with the help of some NASA and McDonnell technicians. Ever the cool character, Gordo performed his checks-and then, while sitting on top of a fully-fueled Atlas booster during a hold in the count, fell asleep. NASA Photo.

 

On the 15th, even as Gordo snoozes atop the rocket, the recovery group steams toward the prime recovery area, led by the carrier U.S.S. Kearsarge. Here, the crew of the Kearsarge rally on the flight deck to show their support for the mission. NASA Photo.

 

 

8:04 AM EST, May 15, 1963, and the last Mercury flight is off and running. Astronauts have described the Mercury-Atlas boost phase as akin to "riding a freight train with square wheels." But Gordo tells CapCom Wally Schirra, "Feels good, buddy! All systems Go!" NASA Photo. 

 

  

165.9 miles over the Himalayas aboard Faith 7. Gordo spends 1 day, 10 hours, 19 minutes and 49 seconds in orbit. He travels 546,167 miles at 17,547 MPH during 22 1/2 orbits. Like John Glenn and Scott Carpenter, Gordo sees the "fireflies" of floating, sun-illuminated flakes of frost, as well as numerous atmospheric and solar phenomena. He also launches a small, spherical satellite with a flashing beacon light ("I was with the little rascal all night," he would later report). Cooper said a prayer (see below) and even sang a bit. Then the otherwise-flawless mission saw a few instrument and control-system glitches pop up. But with the help of Mission Control, Gordo Cooper brought Faith 7 home safely, proving why they sent cool-headed test pilots into space. NASA Photo. 

 

  

Navy frogman's view of Faith 7 during recovery efforts in the Pacific. Gordo and Faith 7, like Wally Schirra and Sigma 7 before them, were recovered by the carrier Kearsarge. NASA Photo.

 

  

The prayer carried into orbit and read by Gordo Cooper from Faith 7. NASA Photo. 

 

Knowing what he has accomplished during this spectacular mission, Gordo Cooper is all smiles as he heads for the ready room of the Kearsarge. Project Mercury was over. The next big step on the way to the Moon was Project Gemini. Gordo's next flight would be the record-setting Gemini 5 mission with New 9 rookie Pete Conrad. NASA Photo.