Gordon Cooper « AmericaSpace

The Right Man: Remembering Gordon Cooper's Day-Long Mercury Mission, 55 Years On

By Ben Evans, on May 13th, 2018

The Atlas booster rises from Pad 14 on 15 May 1963, carrying Gordon Cooper on his day-long Faith 7 mission. His was the longest single U.S. piloted spaceflight at that time. Photo Credit: NASA

Early on 14 May 1963, a hotshot pilot lay on his back in a tiny capsule, atop a converted […]

'Eight Days in a Garbage Can': 50 Years Since Gemini V (Part 1)

By Ben Evans, on August 22nd, 2015

Illustrating the cramped nature of their eight-day home, astronauts Pete Conrad (background) and Gordo Cooper are in jubilant spirits ahead of their 21 August 1965 launch. Photo Credit: NASA

Fifty years ago, this week, astronaut Charles “Pete” Conrad experienced “the longest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life.” Gemini V was […]

'The Right Man': Remembering Gordon Cooper's Faith 7 Mission (Part 2)

By Ben Evans, on May 17th, 2015

Faith 7 descends to a splashdown on 16 May 1963, after Project Mercury’s longest mission of 34 hours. Photo Credit: NASA

Early on 14 May 1963, a hotshot pilot lay on his back in a tiny capsule, atop a converted ballistic missile, and steeled himself to be blasted into space. On Project Mercury’s […]

'How About Now?' Remembering Gordon Cooper's Faith 7 Mission (Part 1)

By Ben Evans, on May 16th, 2015

Gordon Cooper is extracted from the Faith 7 capsule, on the deck of the USS Kearsarge on 16 May 1963. The astronaut’s 34-hour, 22-orbit mission proved as colorful as Cooper himself. Photo Credit: NASA

More than a half-century ago, on 15 May 1963, America launched astronaut Gordon Cooper on its longest manned space […]

'Somewhere Important to Go': The Need for Apollo 10 (Part 1)

By Ben Evans, on May 16th, 2014

Over the years, many have questioned the need for Apollo 10 and why it could not be retasked to perform a lunar landing. In reality, the mission was critical in clearing up many unknowns before a landing could go ahead. Photo Credit: NASA

In the annals of space history, few dates are more […]

'The Right Man': A Restoration of Faith (Part 2)

By Ben Evans, on May 16th, 2013

Atop a converted Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile, America launches its fourth man into orbit on 15 May 1963. Gordon Cooper’s 34-hour, 22-orbit voyage aboard Faith 7 would be NASA’s most challenging space mission to date. Photo Credit: NASA

Early on 14 May 1963, a hotshot pilot lay on his back in a tiny […]

'How About Now?' The Faith in Gordon Cooper (Part 1)

By Ben Evans, on May 15th, 2013

Fifty years ago, on 15 May 1963, America launched astronaut Gordon Cooper on its longest manned space mission to date. In doing so, NASA began to take strides toward meeting President John Kennedy’s goal of landing a man on the Moon before the end of the decade. The humiliation of Yuri Gagarin’s orbital flight […]

50 Years Since Sigma 7: “Solved By a Human”

By Ben Evans, on September 29th, 2012

Wally Schirra looks on as artist Cecelia ‘Cece’ Bibby stencils the Sigma 7 logo onto the side of the spacecraft. “Sigma,” wrote Schirra in his autobiography, “a Greek symbol for the sum of the elements of an equation, stands for engineering excellence. That was my goal – engineering excellence. I would not settle […]

50 Years Since Sigma 7: A Tale of Turtles

By Ben Evans, on September 23rd, 2012

Signed image of Dee O’Hara with Wally Schirra’s enormous urine specimen bottle. Photo Credit: NASA/Wallyschirra.com

Urine samples were part and parcel of an astronaut’s medical regimen in the days and weeks surrounding a mission. For the Mercury Seven, their nurse, Dolores ‘Dee’ O’Hara, was all-powerful. The astronauts feared that the doctors, whilst highly […]

Pad 14: A Place of History and Destiny (Part 2)

By Ben Evans, on July 1st, 2012

Gordon Cooper arrives at the base of the Pad 14 gantry on the morning of 15 May 1963, to become the last man to be launched from this historic site. Photo Credit: NASA

Fifty years ago, America launched its first man into orbit around the Earth. John Glenn spent five hours aloft, completed […]

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