MISSION: 22 ORBITS!

15 1963 the Mercury capsule faith 7 rests atop the Hughes missile on Pat 14 at Cape Canaveral it's a perfect day as major Gordon Cooper leaves hangar s to embark on the most ambitious space flight yet undertaken by the United States with a portable air conditioner in one hand major Cooper receives good wishes with the other good wishes and silent prayers for his mission that aims at 22 orbits a day and a half in space for the nature then up to the 11th floor platform to the ready room where he entered the 4000 pound faith 7 named by Cooper in acknowledgment of his faith in God and country the clocks approach 90 4am the countdown proceeds without a hitch the world watches and waits then ignition blast on the 95-foot spacecraft an atlas rocket brise perfectly straight up with its thunderous roar spreading over the cape around the world millions follow every moment of takeoff as the faith 7 goes successfully into orbit at 17,500 miles per hour reaching a high point of 165 miles and a low of a hundred miles no orbital flight has ever started smoother and major Cooper prepares to perform more scientific experiments over a longer period than any other American astronaut a mission that is a giant milestone on the road to the moon Cooper's flight was perfect for the first 27 hours during which he slept for almost eight hours he was on his 19th orbit when Earthlings learned that he would have to bring his craft back to earth manually only his skill and training would land him safely the Navy had shipped stationed around the world for any emergency with the kearsarge patrolling the prime target area over Red China Cooper fires his retrorockets to slow his re-entry he was guided by Colonel John Glenn aboard a ship near Japan he fired his rockets on the split second and then he prepares to let go his rocket bank and guide his faith 72 splashdown Cooper had faced such emergencies in training and he played at calm at no time in the short history of spaceflight had there been such a performance Cooper's target area is a hundred and fifteen miles southeast of Midway Island he couldn't be closer than this and when the drogue parachute opens he knew he was home the pilot chute sets up a drag and pulls out the landing shoot he's nearing the end of a six hundred thousand mile saga two and a half times the distance to the moon the crew of the carrier kearsarge goes into action as visual contact is made helicopters carry frogmen to the very spot where he will land here's the landing in the left center background you can see the main chute as major Cooper returns to earth 22 orbits and 34 hours after blast off from Cape Canaveral Cooper landed his capsule just 7,000 yards from the Cure sorry an astonishing achievement that will go down in the annals of spaceflight recovery efforts proceed like clockwork frogman are lowered from the helicopter and they attach a flotation collar that keeps the capsule afloat major Cooper elected to stay in his craft until it was safe on the courier's deck the capsule door is blown off and Cooper's flight officially ends a flight that exceeded the most optimistic prediction the major emerges to the cheers of the crew and plaudits around the world in the ship's hospital the doctors gathered data that will prove invaluable in future space flights the medical team pronounces Cooper physically fit fit to face the more strenuous trip ahead Hawaii back on us soil for the first time since takeoff his wife and daughters are on hand to griefing what more appropriate than this typical Hawaiian welcome Hawaii adopts the major as a native son and the first of many welcoming parades he faces takes him through Honolulu a roaring hello and aloha for the major in the 50th state next up Cape Canaveral then the triumphal return to the scene of his takeoff he lands at Patrick Air Force Base near the Cape it's an enthusiastic good work coop that greets the astronaut the people at the Cape speak for the people of the world as they cheer the nation's newest space hero in Washington President Kennedy Awards major Cooper the Space Agency's metal taneja word led to welcome you and your mother here and your wife your two children and will tell you that there you've given the United States a great day and a great left I I didn't really have much to say and after that all I'm saying is that it certainly is a great honor to be invited here and to be presented this award and thank you all very much laureus welcome as he rides the glory road down Pennsylvania Avenue to the capital to address a joint session of Congress major Cooper receives a thunderous standing ovation the astronaut paid tribute to all who made his flight possible more than 4 million New Yorkers lined the streets to cure the maker his roaring reception comes on the 36th anniversary of Lindbergh's flight to Paris the greatest aviation feet of its day the tributes and honors were accepted by Cooper in the name of the astronaut Keith mayor Wagner presents New York's Medal of Honor major Gordon Cooper newest u.s. space hero