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 SFS, FL, USA
May 15, 1963 - 13:04 UTC

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 SFS, FL, USA
August 21, 1965 - 14:00 UTC

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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