This book celebrates the final spaceflight in the Mercury series, flown by NASA astronaut Gordon Cooper, who led an adventurous life in the cockpit of airplanes and spacecraft alike, and on his Mercury mission he became the last American ever to rocket into space alone. He flew in the Mercury and Gemini programs and served as head of flight crew operations in both the Apollo and Skylab programs. His final Mercury mission closed out a pivotal chapter in American spaceflight.
Based on extensive research and first-person interviews, this is a complete history of the Faith 7 flight and its astronaut. Cooper later gained notoriety following the release of the movie, The Right Stuff, in which he was depicted by Dennis Quaid, but Burgess discovers there was even more drama to his story. This recounting of the final Mercury 7 flight completes Burgess's investigation of the early spaceflight program in thrilling fashion.
"It is a reliable chronicle of Gordon Cooper's 34-hour, 22-orbit mission in May 1963, which stretched the endurance of the cramped Mercury capsule almost as far as it could go. ? I can recommend this book as a reliable reference work and a readable narrative." (Michael J. Neufeld, Quest, Vol. 24 (1), 2017)
