Gordon "Gordo" Cooper was one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts, pilot for Apollo X, head of flight crew operations for the United States' first orbiting space station, and the last American to venture into space alone. Stretching from the dawning days of NASA to the far reaches of the unknown, Cooper's distinguished career as a record-setting astronaut helped shape America's space program and blazed a trail for generations to come.
In this astonishing memoir--written with #1 New York Times bestseller Bruce Henderson--Cooper crosses paths with such aviation luminaries as Amelia Earhart, Wiley Post, and German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun; he shares his early days at Edwards Air Force Base and the endeavors that became the basis for The Right Stuff; he takes us inside NASA with candid accounts of his defeats and accomplishments; he reflects on the triumphs and tragedies of his heroic colleagues; and he finally reveals the reasons behind his belief in extraterrestrial intelligence, including the US military's long-standing UFO cover-ups.
Buckle yourself in for a breathtaking ride because in Leap of Faith, Gordon Cooper takes readers to places they've never been before.
After leaving NASA, Cooper served on numerous corporate boards and was a technical consultant in such fields as high-performance boat design, construction, and energy. He also worked for the Walt Disney Company as vice president of research and development for Epcot. His hobbies included deep-sea salvaging and designing aircraft inspired by the UFOs he observed and studied during his career as a pilot and astronaut.
A former newspaper reporter, magazine editor, private investigator, and field producer for television news, Henderson has taught reporting and writing courses at Stanford University and USC School of Journalism. He lives outside San Francisco, California.
"[Cooper] draws on his background as an astronaut to bolster his persuasively argued position that, whatever UFO's may actually be, a policy of cover-up and obfuscation isn't going to help turn them into IFO's--identified flying objects. Full of tasty nuggets for space and ufology buffs." --Booklist