Faith 7

Spacecraft· NASAinactive

Faith 7 — Gordon Cooper's 22-orbit, day-long flight (May 1963), the final and longest Mercury mission. When the automatic control system failed, Cooper flew a manual re-entry by hand and splashed down on target.

Open in 3D viewSee Faith 7 in the live, interactive 3D map

Key facts

Distance from Sun

1.01 AU

Status

Completed

Launched

1963

Mission & specifications

Mission

Operator: NASA
Launched: May 15, 1963
Status: Completed

Trajectory

Distance from the Sun: 1.01 AU
Distance from Earth: 14,059 km
Distance from Venus: 0.563 AU

Mission

Faith 7 closed Project Mercury with its most ambitious flight. On 15 May 1963 Gordon Cooper lifted off for a mission measured not in orbits but in a full day and night in space — 22 orbits over 34 hours, far longer than any American had flown. Cooper carried out a full slate of experiments, deployed a flashing beacon satellite, and became the first American to sleep in orbit, dozing through several passes around the planet. Near the end, the flight became a test of the pilot rather than the machine: the automatic control system failed, then the electrical system began to die, leaving Cooper without automatic stabilisation or instruments for re-entry. Drawing reference lines on his window and firing the retrorockets by hand on a count from the ground, he flew a manual re-entry and splashed down closer to the recovery ship than any Mercury flight before it — a display of piloting that became Mercury's triumphant last act.

1963Faith 7 launchesLaunch
Gordon Cooper begins Mercury's last and longest flight — a full day and 22 orbits.
1963First American to sleep in orbitMilestone
Cooper works a full day of experiments and becomes the first American to sleep in space.
1963A manual re-entryMilestone
The automatic and electrical systems fail; Cooper flies re-entry by hand and lands on target.
1963Splashdown — Mercury completeMission end
Project Mercury closes with its most precise landing yet, recovered by USS Kearsarge.

Images

Faith 7 lifts off with Gordon Cooper — the last Mercury flight — NASA (public domain) · Wikimedia Commons

ASTRONAUT COOPER, L. GORDON, JR. - MERCURY-ATLAS (MA)-9 - PREFLIGHT TESTING - CAPE — NASA/JSC · NASA Image Library

Three U.S — NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration · NASA Image Library

MA-9 - SPLASHDOWN — NASA/JSC · NASA Image Library

Mercury preflight image — NASA/JSC · NASA Image Library

Mercury Project — NASA/MSFC · NASA Image Library

ASTRONAUT COOPER, GORDON - PRELAUNCH MERCURY-ATLAS (MA)-9 - "FAITH 7" - INSERTION - CAPE CANAVERAL, FL — NASA/JSC · NASA Image Library

Astronaut Gordon Cooper is assisted backing out of his spacecraft "Faith 7" — NASA/JSC · NASA Image Library

Images from open archives · credit shown per image