Astronaut Gordon 'Gordo' Cooper, 1927-2004

Grant writes "Leroy Gordon 'Gordo' Cooper, one of America's first seven astronauts, died today in his home at the age of 77. A number of space related sites are carrying the news." Grant points to coverage at SpaceRef.com, Space.com, Nasa Watch, and CNN, writing "His accomplishments will continue to inspire and he will be missed."

Comments

Sadly ironic

[PrimeWaveZ]

That his death occured on the day the Anasari X-Prize was claimed by the first group successful for launching a commercially-developed space vehicle.

Re:Sadly ironic

[bizpile]

Sadly ironic

I think it's more coincidental than ironic, but I could be wrong

Re:Sadly ironic

[ArcticCelt]

"Why did he have a shorter life than the average life expectancy in a typical developed country today"

He surpassed the life expectancy of USA for males and arrived right on target for both sexes.

USA Life expectancy at birth:
male: 74.63 years
total population: 77.43 years

From CIA The World Factbook

Re:Sadly ironic

[erick99]

Life expectancy is based on birth year. His life expectancy was 59.7 years. He did well!

Re:Sadly ironic

[BCW2]

Consider that he outlived more than 50% of his military peers. Being an Astronaut proved to be much safer than being a test pilot. Even though none of us that remember all the Mercury flights thought so at the time. Most of the test flights had blown up. I always thought that those guys had a large pair hanging inline for speed.

Gordo is now meeting with Shepard, Slayton, Grissom and Conrad. That should be a party. It's hard to believe that Glenn and Schirra are the only ones left.

Godspeed Gordo, we will miss you.

Re:Sadly ironic

[jd]

I'm not sure I'd use the term "ironic". In a way, it's almost appropriate. As one generation of innovators and pilots pass away, another is springing forth.

How many times have innovators become the major obstruction, either deliberately or even just by being there? Sometimes, you have to let go, in order to move on.

Gordon Cooper represented the Old Order. The NASA way of doing things. The big-budget, cutting-edge frontier of science way of viewing the world. In his time, that was an essential perspective. Nobody could do anything, if it weren't for the first few. Nobody would know how, and few enough of those would be willing to take such enormous risks.

Without the achievements of the Americans in the form of NASA, the Russians and (ultimately) the Germans, SpaceShipOne would never have existed. Even the very recent work (eg: remote-controlled probes and landers, the ion drive and guidance system AI of DS-1, etc) will be essential for successful migration to a space-based society.

Let's not forget the other players, either. The British HOTOL program (despite being cancelled) did result in a lot of progress in engine technology. It also inspired a lot of progress in reusability, far beyond NASA's vision of the Space Shuttle.

The Australians, too, with their successful development of SCRAM-jet technology, have made it viable, for the first time, to think of vehicles capable of reaching LEO without the aid of rockets. None of this is research the private sector could have afforded, even if it had the vision necessary to understand what could be done.

Every single one of the pioneering astronauts, Gordon Cooper amongst them, represented this kind of heavy-duty R&D. They were, after all, the guys test-flying this stuff. If they did not absolutely understand what they were doing, did not absolutely understand the capabilities and behaviour of what they were flying, they probably wouldn't have made it back to Earth.

Those who have died along the way have invariably done so because either they, or those they depended upon, did NOT have that depth of understanding. That's not a critisism - it's a plain and simple fact. The more unknowns you face, the lower your chances of survival. The only way to ensure survival, therefore, is to know as much as physically possible.

There's a lot of cutting-edge R&D that still needs to be done, by the Gordon Coopers of the world. But not for sub-orbital and LEO flights. That work's been done. It's been done well enough that Scaled Composites could build a vehicle capable of a 70+ mile altitude (mostly) controlled flight.

Gordon Cooper has earned his rest. The day the X-Prize was won proved, beyond all doubt, that his work had a meaning beyond the (somewhat inane and childish) political squabbles of the 60s. I hope he did get to see the flight that secured the prize. His send-off was the successful transfer of the edge of space to humanity. If you're going to die, could you ask for anything better?

Farewell

[Ann Elk]

Blue skies, Gordo.

Re:Farewell

[BigFire]

Truely a fantastic pilot. Sure he was more than confident, but he has the skills to back that up. During his historic Mercury 7 flight, he watch as each and every single one of the automatic guidence system failed on re-entry. In the end, he has two instruments left for guidence, the window and his watch. He still managed to bring his craft closer to the actual splashdown bullseye than all previous 6 capsules.

Re:Farewell

[NOLAChief]

Hard to believe...he was at Stennis Space Center just a few weeks ago with fellow astronauts Scott Carpenter and Wally Schirra promoting a scholarship program they had founded, so I got a chance to see him speak. Obviously they had all aged, but it looked like he had more than the others, unfortunately. But his confidence was still there; you could feel it in the room. Truly an extraordinary person. Thank you for leading the way, Mr. Cooper. We'll try to make you proud.

Gordon Cooper and the existence of UFOs

[sailracer6]

It is interesting to note that Gordon Cooper alleged in a book he wrote a few years ago, "Leap of Faith," that he encountered 'flying saucers' landing and flying while working as a military test pilot in the early 1950s, and that footage he had taken of these saucers was confiscated from him.

I don't know anything else. Would someone else care to comment on this?

Amazon link to the book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0061098779/ qid=1096943403/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_2_1/002-2236212-76 16055

Nice early mention in Gene Kranz's book

[stucooper]

I'm reading Gene Kranz's book "Failure is Not an Option" and there's a nice mention early on about how he gets a lift from the airport to the base by some madman in sunglasses and an open necked shirt who gets saluted by the guards at the gate and drives 100 miles per hour and faster. Wondering why civilian speedsters get saluted at the gate, Kranz realises he's met his first Mercury astronaut, who was in fact Gordo Cooper.

Best epitaph from "The Right Stuff"

[Anonymous Coward]

From the end of the film "The Right Stuff" based on the book by Tom Wolfe. Not written as an epitaph, but it fits.

On that glorious day in May 1963
Gordo Cooper went higher, farther, and faster than any other American:
22 complete orbits around the world.
He was the last American ever to go into space alone
and for a brief moment, Gordo Cooper became
the greatest pilot anyone had ever seen.

Godspeed Gordo Cooper

Stupîd media

[Pig Hogger]

All the media are raving about the death of Janet Leigh (whose name I never heard uttered before today) but not a single word about Gordo.

Stupid media. Always going after the useless thing.

Re:Reminds me of a line...

[jdhutchins]

Kinda OT, but:
It's been said once, it's been said a million times: SpaceShipOne does not mean that NASA is a useless, wasteful government agency. SpaceShipOne did not go into orbit, a very major distinction (not to knock what they did). But it's a very different ball game, and NASA does quite a bit of other research as well. Who do you think did the inital research that developed many of the technologies that SpaceShipOne uses? It's not a nail in the coffin of government-sponsered spaceflight research.

Bio for Gordon Cooper

[erick99]

Astronaut Bio

NAME: Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr. (Colonel, USAF, Ret.)

NASA Astronaut (former)

PERSONAL DATA: Born March 6, 1927 in Shawnee, Oklahoma. His hobbies include treasure hunting, archeology, racing, flying, skiing, boating, hunting and fishing.

EDUCATION: Attended primary and secondary schools in Shawnee, Oklahoma and Murray, Kentucky; received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in 1956; recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Science degree from Oklahoma City University in 1967.

ORGANIZATIONS: The Society of Experimental Test Pilots, The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, The American Astronautical Society, The Blue Lodge Masons, The York Rite Masons, The Scottish Rite Masons, The Royal Order of Jesters, The Sojourners, The Rotary Club, The Daedalians, The Confederate Air Force, The Boy Scouts of America, The Girl Scouts of America.

SPECIAL HONORS: The Air Force Legion of Merit, The Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross, The Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross Cluster, The NASA Exceptional Service Medal, The NASA Distinguished Service Medal, USAF Command Astronaut Wings, The Collier Trophy, The Harmon Trophy, The Scottish Rite 33, The York Rite Knight of the Purple Cross, The DeMolay Legion of Honor, The John F. Kennedy Trophy, The Ivan E. Kincheloe Trophy, The Air Force Association Trophy, The Primus Trophy, The John Montgomery Trophy, The General Thomas E. White Trophy, The Association of Aviation Writers Award, The University of Hawaii Regents Medal, The Columbus Medal, The Silver Antelope, The Sport Fishing Society of Spain Award.

EXPERIENCE: Cooper, an Air Force Colonel, received an Army commission after completing three years of schooling at the University of Hawaii. He transferred his commission to the Air Force and was placed on active duty by that service in 1949 and given flight training.

His next assignment was with the 86th Fighter Bomber Group in Munich, Germany, where he flew F-84s and F-86s for four years. While in Munich, he also attended the European Extension of the University of Maryland night school.

He returned to the United States and, after two years of study at AFIT, received his degree. He then reported to the Air Force Experimental Flight Test School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and, upon graduating in 1957, was assigned as an aeronautical engineer and test pilot in the Performance Engineering Branch of the Flight Test Division at Edwards. His responsibilities there included the flight testing of experimental fighter aircraft.

He has logged more than 7,000 hours flying time--4,000 hours in jet aircraft. He has flown all types of Commercial and General aviation airplane and helicopters.

NASA EXPERIENCE: Colonel Cooper was selected as a Mercury astronaut in April 1959.

On May 15-16, 1963, he piloted the "Faith 7" spacecraft on a 22-orbit mission which concluded the operational phase of Project Mercury. During the 34 hours and 20 minutes of flight, Faith 7 attained an apogee of 166 statue miles and a speed of 17,546 miles per hour and traveled 546,167 statue miles.

Cooper served as command pilot of the 8-day 120-revolution Gemini 5 mission which began on August 21, 1965. It was on this flight that he and pilot Charles Conrad established a new space endurance record by traveling a distance of 3,312,993 miles in an elapsed time of 190 hours and 56 minutes. Cooper also became the first man to make a second orbital flight and thus won for the United States the lead in man-hours in space by accumulating a total of 225 hours and 15 minutes.

He served as backup command pilot for Gemini 12 and as backup commander for Apollo X.

Colonel Cooper has logged 222 hours in space.

He retired from the Air Force and NASA in 1970.

Gordo steals the show at the end of the movie

[Anonymous Coward]

The movie The Right Stuff is one of my all time favorite flicks... I remember seeing it in the theater when I was a kid. (I've seen it several times since then, of course.)

Gordo (played by Dennis Quaid) steals the show at the end of the movie! Here's the movie's narrator's outcue, which, combined with the imagery of Dennis Quaid blasting into space and Bill Conti's awesome musical score, is one of the all-time coolest moments in cinema:

"The Mercury program was over.

Four years later, astronaut Gus Grissom was killed, along with astronauts White and Chaffey, when fire swept through their Apollo capsule.

But on that glorious day in May, 1963, Gordo cooper went higher, farther, and faster than any other American.

Twenty-two complete orbits around the world.

He was the last American ever to go into Space alone.

For a brief moment, Gordo Cooper became the greatest pilot anyone had ever seen!"


You can read a transcript of the entire film here...

http://www2.ice.usp.ac.jp/wklinger/film/scripts/ri ghtstuff-s.txt

Re:Let's be REALISTIC here

[YrWrstNtmr]

Yes, let's be REALLY realistic.

The first group of astronauts were at the apex of the pilot pyramid. A VERY competitive field. Test pilots are engineers who happen to fly extremely well.

And it was not quite as simple as you make it seem, because no one had ever done it before. NASA didn't simply build it and dump some random warm body in it. The astronauts were as much a part of the development team as the sliderule carrying geeks. The campaigned (and won) for windows ("Oh, the extra stress factor!"), and a control stick to actually fly the damn thing.

Get off your military bashing, and realize that some people go into the military for other reasons beyond "a bleak future". That is the only place where you can fly fighter jets. If you'd ever flown or ridden in one, or known some of these pilots, you might get the merest inkling of what these guys were all about.

Godspeed Gordo, in your Corvette...

[ehintz]

I was fortunate enough to attend the memorial service for Alan Shephard at JSC in Houston back in '98... One of my fondest memories of the service was Gordo's eulogy, in which he said the following:

"We raced many miles in identical Corvettes," Cooper told the crowd, then looked straight ahead, as if joking to his late friend: "I'm sorry Al, but I never told you that I changed the ratio in the differential. You really weren't any less a driver, it's just that I cheated a little."

"Now you're up there in that big hangar in the sky," Cooper said. "We miss you, Al. We'll be there before long and we'll try some of that flying ourselves."

I hope your flying is good Gordo.

OK, mea culpa...

[mangu]

Well, he was a Gringo, of course. I was thinking of an "average" industrialized country, but the United States has the lowest life expexctancy of all of the "industrialized" countries. It's lower, according to the CIA Factbook you mention, than that of Finland, Japan, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Canada, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Austria, and Israel. These are all the "industrialized" countries I could remember.

OTOH, considering that Israel has total/male/female life expectancies of 79.17/77.08/81.37 years, vs. the US 77.43/74.74/80.36, wouldn't it be advisable to downgrade "terrorism" as a source of danger to life in general?

Re:Conrad was Cool, but not a Seven.

[Spencerian]

Excellent trivia, but there are a few more.

John Young is still listed as on the active roster for Astronaut flight status (though he has admitted that his wife will kill him if he flew again).

John Young, Jim Lovell, and Gene Cernan are the only men who have flown to the moon twice (A10/16, A8/13, and A10/17, respectively). All three were CMPs (IIRC) before becoming Commanders in their last Apollo flights, but Lovell, of course, did not get to moonwalk. I believe that Lovell was also an Original 7 candidate.

Only Shepard of the Original 7 was a moonwalker, although it was strongly rumored that, were it not for the Fire of 1967, Gus Grissom was practically a shoe-in as the first moonwalker.

It is ironic that Gus Grissom almost drowned because a hatch would not stay shut on his first mission, and died inside a spacecraft by asphyxiation from a hatch that would not open. After the recovery of Mercury/Liberty Bell 7 from the ocean floor, it was discovered that the hatch did blow on its own, with the explosive charge that was intended to do so still intact.