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Gordon Cooper

L. Gordon COOPER

PROFILE

Full Name:

Leroy Gordon COOPER.

Rank:

Colonel, USAF (Deceased).

Born:

6 March 1927, in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA (American).

Died:

4 October 2004, from heart failure, in Ventura, California, aged 77.

Education:

1945: Graduated from Murray High School, Kentucky.

 

1956: BSc degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT).

Career Highlights:

1945-46: Served in the US Marine Corps.

 

1946-49: Attended the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii; obtained commission and called to USAF active duty for pilot training.

 

1949-70: Served in the USAF.

 

1950-54: Pilot, 525th Fighter Bomber Squadron, 86th Bomber Group, West Germany; while in Europe he also attended the European Extension of the University of Maryland night school.

 

1954-56: Student, AFIT.

 

1956-57: Student, USAF Test Pilot School.

 

1957-59: Test pilot and aeronautical engineer, Flight Test Center, Edwards Air Force Base (AFB), California.

 

 

NASA ASTRONAUT ASSIGNMENTS

1959:

(9 Apr) Selected as one of the "Original Seven" Mercury astronauts for NASA's Group 1; Mercury training; (Jul) specialty technical assignment for the Redstone launch vehicle; Mercury training.

1960:

Mercury training.

1961:

Mercury training.

1962:

(Feb) Capcom MA-6 (Glenn); Mercury training; (May) Capcom MA-7 (carpenter); Mercury training; (27 Jun) named BUp Pilot MA-8 (Schirra); Mercury training; (13 Nov) named as Pilot MA-9 - one-day mission; Mercury training.

1963:

Mercury training; (15-16 May) flew as Pilot MA-9 (34 hrs 19 min); first US one-day mission.

1964:

(8 Jul) Astronaut Office (Code CB) technical assignment as Chief, Apollo Branch Office.

1965:

(8 Jan) Named as Command Pilot Gemini 5; Gemini training; (Mar) Capcom Gemini 3; Gemini training; (21-29 Aug) flew as Command Pilot Gemini 5 (7 days 22 hrs 55 min); set new endurance record (with Conrad), first flight over 7 days; (23 Sep) named as Gemini Branch Chief, CB, replacing Grissom.

1966:

(27 Jun) named BUp Command Pilot Gemini 12; Gemini training (Jul) Capcom Gemini 10; Gemini training; (Nov) BUp Command Pilot Gemini 12.

1967:

(Nov) Chief, Apollo Applications Program (AAP, later Skylab) Branch Office.

1968:

(13 Nov) Named BUp Commander Apollo 10; Apollo training.

1969:

Apollo training; (May) BUp Commander Apollo 10; expecting to rotate to Command of Apollo 13; when offered the position of BUp Commander Apollo 13, with no assurance that he would command Apollo 16, he refused; (3 Oct) named assistant for Space Shuttle Program, Flight Crew Operations Directorate (FCOD), NASA Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC).

1970:

Assistant for Space Shuttle Program; FCOD, MSC; (31 Jul) resigned from NASA and retired from the USAF with the rank of Colonel.

 

 

POST-ASTRONAUT EXPERIENCE

1970-74:

Formed Gordon Cooper and Associates, Inc., an aerospace consulting firm; had interests in aerospace and hotel and lenad development projects; served on the Board of Directors for a number of other organisations, mainly specialising in energy, advanced electronics, efficient homes, boats and marine systems.

1974-80:

Vice President, Research and Development, The Walt Disney Company.

1980-dates unknown:

President, X=L Inc., a firm developing alcohol-based aviation fuel; continued his passion for designing and testing new aircraft.

1989-dates unknown:

Continued to design and test new aircraft in California, as CEO of Galaxy Group Inc.

4 Oct 2004:

Died from heart failure at his home in Ventura, California, aged 77.

 

 

Gordon COOPER Space Flight Missions

Mission

Vehicle

Position

Dates

DD/MM/YY

Duration

DD:HH:MM:SS

Orbits

EVAs

Mercury 9

Atlas

Pilot

15/05/1963-16/05/1963

01:10:19:22

22

0

Gemini 5

Titan

Command Pilot

21/08/1965-29/08/1965

07:22:55:14

122

0

      

Missions Flown:

2

Total Flight Time:

09:11:14:36

142

0

      

Space Explorer Achievements

First person to complete two orbital space flights

First American astronaut to spend a full day (24 hrs) in space (Mercury 9)

First astronauts (with Pete Conrad) to spend one week (7 consecutive days) in space (Gemini 5).
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All images are courtesy of NASA, unless otherwise stated.
Gordon Cooper was one of the Original Seven Mercury astronauts selected by NASA in 1959. This unusual image of the group shows them participating in a USAF survival course in Nevada. (L to R) Gordon Cooper, Scott Carpenter, John Glenn, Al Shepard, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra and Deke Slayton.
Cooper's first space flight was the Mercury 9 mission that closed out the programme in May 1963. It was the first American mission to last for more than 24 hours. This image shows Cooper getting out of his capsule aboard the recovery ship USS Kearsage, having elected to remain with his spacecraft until it was recovered from the ocean.
A tired and sweaty Cooper is supported by a crewman aboard the recovery vessel after climbing out of his Faith 7 spacecraft.
Pete Conrad (left) and Gordon Cooper, the prime crew for the eight-day Gemini 5 mission in 1965.
During training for Gemini 5, Cooper (left) and Conrad are seen aboard a C-130 aircraft preparing their cameras for a visual acuity experiment to learn how to identify terrestrial targets from above under controlled conditions. They would repeat the experiment during their space flight.
One of the less glamourous parts of space flight, as Cooper (top) and Conrad undergo medical examinations by Dr. Louis Ballenberger aboard the USS Lake Champlain shortly after their recovery at the end of Gemini 5.

Image courtesy of NASA, from the Ed Hengeveld collection.