Astronaut Gordon 'Gordo' Cooper, 1927-2004 295
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."
Sadly ironic (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Sadly ironic (Score:2, Interesting)
Mustn't be too much bad with the radiation and stresses involved in being launched up into space regularly. Unless of course that's not what they did...
Gordo (Score:3, Interesting)
Notice on spaceshipone's first space flight last week, when asked about the 29 rolls at the top of his ascent, the pilot brushed it all off, "oh, it was nothing, training just took over."
Also, notice spaceshipone's incredible resemblance to the X-planes tested in 50's by test pilots like Chuck Yeager. Basically, spaceshipone is using 1950's technology to make its headlines.
It was the mercury astronauts and Russian cosmonauts who brought our backward world kicking and screaming to new frontiers first.
Re:Sadly ironic (Score:1, Interesting)
See the usage note at http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=ironic
Re:Farewell (Score:5, Interesting)
Gordon Cooper and the existence of UFOs (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't know anything else. Would someone else care to comment on this?
Amazon link to the book:/ qid=1096943403/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_2_1/002-2236212-76 16055 [amazon.com]
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0061098779
Nice early mention in Gene Kranz's book (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Sadly ironic (Score:3, Interesting)
The stress also couldn't have helped much.
As it is, with some things like cancer, it doesn't matter how old you are, or how good your physical condition, it can still take you down. Good health helps, but something like the more common forms of pancreatic or stomach cancer can knock the best of us out for the count.
Best epitaph from "The Right Stuff" (Score:5, Interesting)
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
Dude. (Score:1, Interesting)
It would be really tragic if he died without knowing that private mankind was going into sub-orbital
flight successfully.
I mean, its like an era of space flight ended today.
Private enterprise pushed a starship(admittedly, miniscule) into flight, and one of the Mercury Seven died.
Astronaught (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Sadly ironic (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Reminds me of a line... (Score:2, Interesting)
Gordo (played by Dennis Quaid) steals the show at the end of the movie! Here's the movie's narrator's outcue...
"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/r
Gordo steals the show at the end of the movie (Score:4, Interesting)
The movie The Right Stuff [imdb.com] 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/r
Godspeed, Gordo (Score:4, Interesting)
He was truly one with the "right stuff".
Like the rest of the original 7, he was not only a fantastic pilot, he was also a scientist, and a damn good one.
It's ironic that on the day we lose the last American to go into space alone, we send another American into space alone.
Mr. Cooper is not alone (Score:3, Interesting)
Brigadier General Stephen Lovekin: Army National Guard Reserves
Brigadier General Arthur Exon: US Air Force (ret.)
Brigadier Thomas Dubose: US Air Force (deceased)
Merle Shane McDow: US Navy Atlantic Command
Lance Corporal Jonathan Weygandt: US Marine Corps
Maj. George A. Filer, III: US Air Force (Ret.)
Maj. Donald Keyhoe: US Air Force (deceased)
Nick Pope: British Ministry of Defense Official
Larry Warren: US Air Force, Security Officer
Sgt. Clifford Stone: US Army
Master Sgt. Dan Morris: US Air Force, NRO Operative
Officer Alan Godfrey: British Police
Sgt. Karl Wolf: US Air Force
Ms. Donna Hare: NASA Employee
Dr. Robert Wood: McDonnell Douglas Aerospace Engineer
Dr. Paul Czysz: McDonnell Douglas Career Engineer
Astronaut Edgar Mitchell
Astronaut Gordon Cooper (deceased)
John Callahan: FAA Head of Accidents and Investigations
Michael Smith: US Air Force Radar Controller
Franklin Carter: US Navy Radar Technician
Neil Daniels: United Airlines Pilot
Captain Robert Salas: US Air Force, SAC Launch Controller
Harry Allen Jordan: US Navy
Sgt. Chuck Sorrells: US Air Force (ret.)
Commander Graham Bethune: US Navy (ret.)
Mr. Enrique Kolbeck: Senior Air Traffic Controller, Mexico
Dr. Richard Haines
Mr. Franklin Carter: US Navy
Sgt. Robert Blazina (ret.)
Lieutenant Frederick Marshall Fox: US Navy (ret.)
Lt. Bob Walker: US Army
Mr. Don Bockelman: US Army
Professor Robert Jacobs: Lt. US Air Force (ret.)
Lt. Colonel Dwynne Arneson: US Air Force (ret.)
Colonel Ross Dedrickson: US Air Force/AEC (ret.)
Mr. James Kopf: US Navy/ National Security Agency
Lieutenant Colonel Joe Wojtecki, US Air Force
Staff Sergeant Stoney Campbell: US Air Force
Lieutenant Colonel Charles Brown: US Air Force (ret.)
Admiral Lord Hill-Norton: Five-Star Admiral, Former Head of the British Ministry of Defense
Major-General Vasily Alexeyev: Russian Air Force,
Mr. Don Phillips: Lockheed Skunkworks, USAF, and CIA Contractor
Captain Bill Uhouse: US Marine Corps (ret.)
Lieutenant Colonel John Williams: US Air Force (ret.)
Mr. Gordon Creighton: Former British Foreign Service Official
Mr. John Maynard: Defense Intelligence Agency (ret.)
Mr. Harland Bentley: US Army
Dr. Alfred Webre: Senior Policy Analyst Stanford Research Institute
Denise McKenzie: Former SAIC employee
Colonel Phillip J. Corso, Sr.: US Army (ret.)
Sergeant Leonard Pretko: US Air Force
Mr. Dan Willis: US Navy
Re:Gordo (Score:1, Interesting)
Yeager was a damn fine pilot at the time, and certainly a very daring one, but he wasn't the world's best test pilot. He flew too much by the seat of his pants for that, and lacks in technical/engineering knowledge. With a plane like the NF-104, X-15, or SS-1 that is capable of leaving the atmosphere, Yeager is literally out of his element. Don't believe all of the hype and ego-stories about Yeager. There have been several pilots that flew better flight test than Yeager did, even if they haven't gotten the press. Bob Smith [nf104.com], chief test pilot of the NF-104A is one.
Re:Gordon Cooper and the existence of UFOs (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Farewell (Score:5, Interesting)
Godspeed Gordo, in your Corvette... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Mr. Cooper is not alone (Score:1, Interesting)
OK, mea culpa... (Score:5, Interesting)
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?