Black & white 8 x 10 photograph is in Near Fine condition with shallow nicks to one edge, not affecting the image. Signed "Leroy G. Cooper, Jr." Cooper is seen wearing the Project Mercury lapel pin.
L(eroy) Gordon Cooper, Jr. (1927-2004) was chosen as an original Mercury astronaut in April 1959. He piloted the Faith 7 spacecraft, the last Project Mercury flight, on a 22-orbit mission (May 15-16, 1963). In so doing he became the first American in space for more than a day (34 hours and 19 minutes). In 1965, Cooper and Charles Conrad flew on Gemini 5 (August 21-29, 1965), making the longest flight in space (120 orbits in 190 hours) which proved that men could remain in space long enough to travel to the moon and back. Cooper later served as back up command pilot for Gemini 12 and back up Commander for Apollo 10 until retiring from NASA and the Air Force in 1970. Gordon Cooper died on October 4, 2004, at his home in Ventura, California, at the age of 77. Item #25687
Price: $495.00