Gordon Cooper

Leroy Gordon Cooper was an American astronaut who was born on March 6, 1927, in Oklahoma. Before he became an astronaut, Cooper was an Air Force pilot.

Cooper became an astronaut in 1959. He was one of the original Mercury astronauts. He has spent over 224 hours in space on 2 spaceflights.

Cooper piloted the last Mercury mission in 1963. He set an endurance record on this mission by logging more time in space than all five previous Mercury astronauts combined (34 hours). He was also the first American astronaut to actually sleep in space!

In 1965, Cooper commanded Gemini 5. This mission was set to prove that astronauts could survive in space for 8 days. This was the length of time it took to reach the moon.

Last modified prior to September, 2000 by the Windows Team

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