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Gordon Cooper

American - (NASA)

Deceased

Date of Birth: March 6, 1927
Date of Death: Oct. 4, 2004


Leroy Gordon "Gordo" Cooper Jr. was an American aerospace engineer, test pilot, United States Air Force pilot, and the youngest of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, the first manned space program of the United States. Cooper piloted the longest and final Mercury spaceflight in 1963. He was the first American to sleep in space during that 34-hour mission and was the last American to be launched alone to conduct an entirely solo orbital mission. In 1965, Cooper flew as Command Pilot of Gemini 5.

Atlas LV-3B | Mercury-Atlas 9

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Cape Canaveral, FL, USA
May 15, 1963, 1:04 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

Mercury-Atlas 9 was the final manned spaceflight of the United States' Mercury program. It carried the Faith 7 spacecraft with astronaut Gordon Cooper to orbit where it completed 22 orbits seconds before reentry. The mission lasted for, 34 hours, 19 minutes & 49 seconds. This was the last time an American was launched to space on a solo orbital mission. The mission had several technical problems, the biggest which was a short-circuit in the bus bar serving the 250 volt main inverter causing the automatic stabilization and control system to stop working during the 21st orbit. In the end Cooper had to use lines he had drawn on the window and his wristwatch to correctly execute burns to safely re-enter the atmosphere.

Low Earth Orbit
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Titan II GLV | Gemini V

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Cape Canaveral, FL, USA
Aug. 21, 1965, 2 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

Gemini 5 was the third crewed mission of the NASA's Project Gemini. The mission was commanded by Command Pilot L. Gordon Cooper, Jr. and Pilot Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr. The mission began on August 21, 1965, 13:59:59 UTC and ended on August 29, 1965, 12:55:13 UTC.

Low Earth Orbit
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Administrator: Bill Nelson

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.


Falcon 9
Success
2 days ago
Starlink Group 10-3
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral, FL, USA

A batch of 23 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon Heavy
Success
3 days, 14 hours ago
GOES-U
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-U (GOES-U) is the fourth of the next generation of geostationary weather satellites, known as t…


Falcon 9
Success
5 days, 8 hours ago
Starlink Group 9-2
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 20 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon 9
Success
5 days, 18 hours ago
Starlink Group 10-2
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral, FL, USA

A batch of 22 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 2
Success
1 week ago
Space Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM)
Launch Complex 3 (LC-3/LA-1) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

The Space Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) is a French/Chinese planned small X-ray telescope satellite under development by China National Space Admin…