Evening star., 1963-05-21

has made history, a dedicated
American who has added luSter
and glory to our country and
whose achievement will bring |
extraordinary benefits to man.
kind"
Supreme Court justices and
more than 80 members of the
diplomatic corps also attended
the Joint congressional meet
ing Ambassadors and other
diplomats from foreign coun-
tries greeted Maj. Cooper as
he went from the Speakers
office to the House chamber.
Others Got Awards
Besides Maj. Cooper, sew
eral men connected with Prof.
ect Mercury were awarded
NASA medals by the President
during the ceremony today.
The NASA medal for out
standing leadership was pre-
Sented to:
G. Merritt Preston, manager,
Project Mercury operations at
launch operations center. for
outstanding leadership in the
preparation and checkout Of
the Spacecraft for space flight
missions"
Floyd L. Thompson, direc-
tor Of the Langley Research
Center, for his leadership Of
scientists and engineers re
sponsible for the original TECH
nical concepts and who COM
promised the nucleus of the
development team" for the .
Mercury flights.
Kenneth S. Kleinknecht, .
manager. Project Mercury Of |
flee. Manned Spacecraft Gen.
ter, for his work in managing
development OF the space craft
for the extended Project Mer-
curry missions.
For Defense Department
Mai. Gen. Leighton I. Davis.
commander. Air Force Missile
Test Center. Cape Canaveral,
for his leadership in planning
and implementing the support
OF the Department OF Defense
to the space flight missions" Of
Project Mercury.
NASA group achievement
awards we're presented to Rear
Admiral Harold G. Bowen. jr..
chief of CruiSer-D Destroyer Flo
tilla No. 4. for the Defense De-
partment recovery forces, and
to Maj. Gen. Ben I. Funk. COM
mander Of the Air Force Space
System Division, for that di-
visions achievement in man.
aging the development and
launching Of the Atlas booster
used in the Project Mercury
space flights.
The big four-engine Jet
bringing Mai. Cooper here from
Cape Canaveral touched down
at Andrews Air Force base at
1887 am. Mai. Cooper and the
official party we're welcomed by
Air Force Chief Of Staff Curtis
e. LeMay. Air Force Secretary
Eugene zuckert and NASA Di-
rector Webb.
In 1 HelicOpters
After q brief ceremony the
official party. including NASKI
wives and children.
took off in four helicopters for
the ceremonies at White House.
A crowd estimated at 1000
persons gathered at the air base
to view the arrival Of the space
man. Several children from
Junior Village bore a placard
emblazoned with the greeting: /
Junior Village Thanks You
Too"
After the White House cere-
mony, the 36-year-old flyer be-
came the third spaceman to ride
down Pennsylvania avenue and |
the second to address Congress.
Astronauts Alan B, Shepard .
and John H Glenn. jr.. also had |
motorcades, and Col. Glenn |
spoke to Congress.
Better weather
Today's weather, even If q,
little damp. was far better
than the day more than a year
ago when a pouring rain |
drenched 100000 TO 300. 900 |
spectators as they watched
Col Glenn or his motorcade
up Pennsylvania avenue.
Mai, Cooper, fourth Ameri-
can to orbit the earth, flew %
times around the planet IN a
34la-hour flight last Wednes-
day and Thursday.
In addition TO Mai. Cooper, /
the astronaut team was rep
resented today by Comdr
Shepard. Comdr. Walter M
Schirra and MajS. Virgil H.
GriSsom and Donald K. Slay-
ton. Condr. Scott Carpenter
has illness in his family and
Col. Glenn is vacationing in
Japan.
Mrs. Hattie Cooper, recently
widowed mother OF the aStro-
naut, came TO Washington from
Oklahoma TO join her son. She
lives In Carbondale. Colo. but
had been visiting in Shawnee.
Okla, at the time OF Mai
Cooper's flight.
Vice President johnson. titu.
lar head Of the national space
effort, escorted Mai. Cooper
from the White House 10 tho
Capitol In the 20-car motor
cade.
After the activity on Capitol
Hill, Mai Coopers party went
10 90 10 the new State Depart
ment building for a luncheon
given by the Vice President