Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr.
1927-2004

Gordon Cooper passed away on October 4, 2004, at his home in Ventura, California. He was 77. Cooper was born March 6, 1927 in Shawnee, Oklahoma and attended schools in Shawnee, Oklahoma and Murray, Kentucky, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in 1956, and an Honorary Doctorate of Science degree from Oklahoma City University in 1967.

Colonel Cooper was selected as a Mercury astronaut in April 1959. On May 15-16, 1963, he piloted the "Faith 7" spacecraft, a 22-orbit mission that was the conclusion of the operational phase of Project Mercury. He later served as the command pilot of the 8-day Gemini 5 mission which began on August 21, 1965 becoming the first man to make a second orbital flight and winning for the United States the lead in man-hours in space by accumulating a total of 225 hours and 15 minutes. He later served as the backup command pilot for Gemini 12 and as the backup commander for Apollo X.