num_pages: 288
description: Gordon Cooper was one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, a select group of the nation's top military test pilots who braved the frontiers of space back when strapping yourself to a rocket meant you would be either 100 miles up or 6' under. Today he's a part of our nation's history as one of the surviving Mercury space pioneers. Leap of Faith not only reveals what went on behind the scenes of the early space program, but also takes aim at the next millennium of space travel with strong views on the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence--&amp; even the distinct possibility we've already had contact. During his military career, he was one of the best of the best at Edwards Air Force Base, where the setting of world records for speed, endurance &amp; altitude was an everyday occurrence. Even before joining the newly formed manned space program, he understood the dangerous nature of new technologies: hanging it over the edge &amp; pushing the envelope, then hauling it back in &amp; doing it again tomorrow. Gordo Cooper learned to fly with his father at age 8 in his hometown of Shawnee, OK, soloing by age 12. As an impressionable boy, he met overnight visitors to the household, including famous aviators like Amelia Earhart &amp; Wiley Post, heightening his desire to take to the skies. Ride with Cooper thru his adventurous life in the cockpits of planes &amp; spacecraft alike. He was the last American to go into space alone. He flew in Mercury &amp; Gemini, &amp; served as head of flight crew operations for both Apollo &amp; Skylab, America's 1st orbiting space station. He was backup command pilot for Apollo X &amp; directed design input changes for the shuttle program. He was buddies with Gus Grissom, who died in the Apollo I fire at Cape Canaveral, &amp; was close to Wernher von Braun, the German rocket scientist who was responsible for the USA beating Russia to the Moon. Thru it all, Cooper, a hero who shuns the label, speaks candidly of his defeats as well as his accomplishments. His life is a tapestry of space travel in the 20th century. From a source as credible as Cooper come these claims: He innocently took revealing pictures of the mysterious Area 51 during his Gemini mission &amp; ended up in the White House speaking about it to the president; he &amp; other military jet pilots have chased UFOs; &amp; footage of UFOs taken by his film crew was confiscated by the government, all part of the military's long-time UFO cover-up.
language: English
title: Leap of Faith: An Astronaut's Journey Into the Unknown
titlecomplete: Leap of Faith: An Astronaut's Journey Into the Unknown
genres: Biography, Science, Nonfiction, Memoir, Space, Autobiography, History
ratings_count: 184
publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (NYC)