Okla-homey
5/15/2006, 06:00 AM
May 15, 1963, The flight of Faith 7
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/2672/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa11016305.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
43 years ago on this day in 1963, Leroy Gordon Cooper is launched into space aboard Faith 7 on the longest American space mission to that date.
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8500/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa13.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Faith 7 was the capstone of Project Mercury, the NASA program that put the first American into space in 1961 and the first astronaut into orbit in 1962. Cooper completed 22 orbits of the earth and spent 34 hours in space just three days after his 36th birthday.
http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/6159/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa4.png (http://imageshack.us)
Cooper was the first American astronaut to spend more than a day in space. On the afternoon of May 16, Faith 7 landed safely in the Pacific Ocean, four miles from the recovery ship USS Kearsarge.
http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/7682/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa22.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Gordo home safe aboard USS Kearsarge
Cooper was honored by parades in Hawaii and Washington, D.C., where he addressed a joint session of Congress, and in New York City, where he was greeted by a massive ticker-tape crowd. Later, "Gordo" Cooper's hometown of Shawnee, Oklahoma celebrated the return of the sixth Mercury astronaut from space.
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/8500/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa13.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Opened in 1930, oldest restaurant in Shawnee. Young "Gordo" loved the joint.
Gordon Cooper's space milestones:
1963 - Last American to fly into space alone
1963 - Flew 22 orbits (solo) in Mercury 9 (Faith 7)
1963 - Gave one of the opening addresses to the first meeting of the League of African Nations (from Space)
1963 - Used the first television camera in Space
1963 - First pilot-controlled reentry from Space
1963-1965 - First Military man to address the Joint Sessions of Congress twice
1965 - Flew 122 orbits as command pilot of Gemini 5
1965 - First man to fly two orbital flights
1965 - First man to fly a fuel cell in space
1965 - First man to fly a radar set in space
1965 - First man to track a typhoon from Space
1965 - Established the World Record of most hours in Space for the United States National Aeronautic Association Record Distance in Earth orbit 1965 - National Aeronautic Association Record Duration in Earth orbit
http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/200/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa21.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Gordo's candle is lit
Of greatly lesser significance, on this day in 1982, your correspondent successfully hoodwinked the United States Air Force into swearing him in as a second lieutenant. The closest he ever got to outerspace was about 52,000' in a B-52G.:(
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/4909/insane7zo9vn.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/2672/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa11016305.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
43 years ago on this day in 1963, Leroy Gordon Cooper is launched into space aboard Faith 7 on the longest American space mission to that date.
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8500/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa13.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Faith 7 was the capstone of Project Mercury, the NASA program that put the first American into space in 1961 and the first astronaut into orbit in 1962. Cooper completed 22 orbits of the earth and spent 34 hours in space just three days after his 36th birthday.
http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/6159/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa4.png (http://imageshack.us)
Cooper was the first American astronaut to spend more than a day in space. On the afternoon of May 16, Faith 7 landed safely in the Pacific Ocean, four miles from the recovery ship USS Kearsarge.
http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/7682/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa22.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Gordo home safe aboard USS Kearsarge
Cooper was honored by parades in Hawaii and Washington, D.C., where he addressed a joint session of Congress, and in New York City, where he was greeted by a massive ticker-tape crowd. Later, "Gordo" Cooper's hometown of Shawnee, Oklahoma celebrated the return of the sixth Mercury astronaut from space.
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/8500/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa13.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Opened in 1930, oldest restaurant in Shawnee. Young "Gordo" loved the joint.
Gordon Cooper's space milestones:
1963 - Last American to fly into space alone
1963 - Flew 22 orbits (solo) in Mercury 9 (Faith 7)
1963 - Gave one of the opening addresses to the first meeting of the League of African Nations (from Space)
1963 - Used the first television camera in Space
1963 - First pilot-controlled reentry from Space
1963-1965 - First Military man to address the Joint Sessions of Congress twice
1965 - Flew 122 orbits as command pilot of Gemini 5
1965 - First man to fly two orbital flights
1965 - First man to fly a fuel cell in space
1965 - First man to fly a radar set in space
1965 - First man to track a typhoon from Space
1965 - Established the World Record of most hours in Space for the United States National Aeronautic Association Record Distance in Earth orbit 1965 - National Aeronautic Association Record Duration in Earth orbit
http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/200/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa21.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Gordo's candle is lit
Of greatly lesser significance, on this day in 1982, your correspondent successfully hoodwinked the United States Air Force into swearing him in as a second lieutenant. The closest he ever got to outerspace was about 52,000' in a B-52G.:(
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/4909/insane7zo9vn.jpg (http://imageshack.us)