Gordon Cooper Dies, 77

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Gordon Cooper died on October 4th 2004, at the age of 77. He was one of the original Mercury 7 Astronauts. He flew the Faith 7 spacecraft which orbited the earth 22 times. While on re-entry the electronics malfunctioned and he was able to pilot the spacecraft into the ocean 7,000 yards from a US Navy aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. President Kennedy called this “one of the great victories for the human spirit.”

He later was the command pilot of the Gemini 5 mission, making him the first man to visit space twice. Along with Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Wally Schirra, and Deke Slayton he was was on of the main characters of the book and movie “The Right Stuff“

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