Gordon Cooper

Gordon Cooper was an American astronaut and test pilot who flew Mercury-Atlas 9 and Gemini 5. He became the first person to spend more than a day in space.

Mercury-Atlas 9: The final crewed Mercury mission, flown by Gordon Cooper in 1963 for nearly 34 hours and 22 orbits. Cooper piloted this solo flight, the longest of the Mercury program.
Project Mercury: The first United States human spaceflight program, which sent astronauts into Earth orbit from 1961 to 1963. It provided the spacecraft and mission framework for Cooper’s first flight.
Pete Conrad: An American astronaut who commanded Apollo 12 and flew with Gordon Cooper on Gemini 5. Conrad shared command duties with Cooper during their record-setting Gemini mission.
Spaceflight endurance record: A record for the longest continuous time spent in space during a single mission. Cooper held the record after Gemini 5’s nearly eight-day flight.
Gemini 5: A 1965 crewed Gemini mission in which Gordon Cooper and Pete Conrad spent nearly eight days in orbit. Cooper commanded this mission, setting a spaceflight endurance record with Pete Conrad.
Project Gemini: The United States human spaceflight program that developed techniques for longer missions and lunar exploration. Cooper’s second flight tested the endurance needed for later crewed missions.
Deke Slayton: An American astronaut and NASA flight director who managed crew assignments for much of the early space program. Slayton selected Cooper for both Mercury-Atlas 9 and Gemini 5.
Human spaceflight: Space travel performed by people aboard spacecraft. Cooper’s missions advanced the duration and operational experience of human spaceflight.
Faith 7: The Mercury spacecraft flown by Gordon Cooper on Mercury-Atlas 9. This capsule carried Cooper through his first orbital mission.
Atlas rocket: An American launch vehicle derived from an intercontinental ballistic missile and adapted for spaceflight. An Atlas rocket launched Cooper’s Mercury spacecraft into orbit.

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Scott CarpenterRelated: Cooper followed Carpenter as a Mercury astronaut on an orbital mission.