Leap of Faith: An Astronaut's Journey into the Unknown (Mass Market Paperback)

by Gordon Cooper (Author), Bruce Henderson (Author) "IN EARLY JANUARY 1959 I RECEIVED UNEXPECTED Orders to report to Washington, D.C..." (more)
Key Phrases: prime pilot, astronaut office, escape tower, United States, John Glenn, World War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In this engaging memoir, Mercury 7 astronaut Cooper adds his compelling voice to the chorus of critics charging a U.S. governmental coverup of the UFO phenomenon. Written in the first person with Henderson (coauthor of And the Sea Will Tell), this book will challenge UFO skeptics and believers alike. On the one hand, Cooper states that, despite many reports to the contrary, neither he nor other astronauts saw UFOs in outer space. On the other hand, he reports that in 1951, as a young air force pilot based in Germany, he chased saucer-shaped UFOs, and that groups of UFOs passed over the base daily at speeds far superior to any manmade craft. In 1957, at Edwards Air Force Base in the California desert, Cooper was given photographs of a "classic saucer" that had reportedly landed at the top-secret military installation. He sent the photos to a Pentagon general, but never heard about the matter again. In the late 1970s, Cooper (who's now an aeronautical designer) unsuccessfully tried to launch a research company devoted to free worldwide energy transmission using Nikola Tesla's discoveries, as well as to advanced medical devices and other projects. His partner in this venture, Valerie Ransone, claims to receive scientifically useful telepathic transmissions from extraterrestrial sources. The story gets a lot weirder, as Cooper agrees to join Ransone in the Arizona desert for a telepathically arranged rendezvous with a UFO. Joining them at this alleged meeting (which was canceled) was Atlas missile aerospace engineer Dan Fry, who claims to have flown over Texas on board a UFO in 1950. On a more mundane level, Cooper's reminiscence offers an exciting insider's look at Projects Mercury, Gemini and Apollo, full of startling details about NASA's internal politics, disasters, glitches and close calls. 16 pages of color photos. (Aug.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
Although he is not, this autobiography of Cooper (youngest of the original seven Mercury astronauts) is slightly schizoid. Half of it recalls Cooper's distinguished career as an astronaut, which included the 22-orbit flight of Mercury Faith 7 and the record-breaking, trouble-plagued flight of Gemini 5 with the late Pete Conrad. Born and raised around aviation, Cooper left both the astronaut corps and the air force after the small-group politics of mission assignments led to his being denied an Apollo mission. He has devoted his life since, and devotes the rest of the book, to exploring the question of unidentified flying objects, in whose extraterrestrial origins he firmly believes, even if he isn't a UFO cultist. He 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 and of portraits, not all of them kind, of his Mercury fellows, as well as his self-portrayal as an almost stereotypical fighter-jockey, Cooper's book attests that, when the time came, he boldly went where few had gone before, helping blaze the trail for the many who have followed. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch (January 8, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061098779
• ISBN-13: 978-0061098772
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #266,962 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #46 in

  Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Astronauts

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Inspiring Story from one who has the Right Stuff!, July 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Leap of Faith: An Astronaut's Journey Into the Unknown (Hardcover)

As one of the "Original Seven", Gordon"Gordo" Cooper describes his unique life experiences such asbeing the last American to ever fly into space alone. From his youth in Shawnee, Oklahoma to being a fighter jock in Germany and Edwards Air Force Base in California, Cooper tells the story of his all American life and his eventual selection as one of the original seven American astronauts. Flying the concluding mission of the Mercury Program in May of 1963 aboard Faith 7, Cooper flew what many consider to be the best and most successful flight of Mercury. He made a pinpoint landing in the Pacific after all his electrical and cooling systems in his spacecraft started to die on him. He manually flew his spacecraft to a perfect splashdown. He later commanded Gemini 5 with Pete Conrad aboard which set an 8 day endurance record in space,a record at that time. Finally, Cooper reveals how he was shortchanged by two of his buddies Deke Slayton and Alan Shepard when they denied Cooper a shot at commanding a lunar landing so Shepard could get a shot. In Deke's book, he hints that Cooper had lost the edge and had not trained hard enough in a backup role to merit a lunar landing. Judging by Cooper's successful Mercury and Gemini flights, Slayton's statement seems self serving and a bunch of bull. Cooper was as good a pilot as the rest otherwise he would not have been chosen as one of the first seven astrounauts. The second part of the book deals with Cooper's reported sightings of UFO's from the cockpit of his fighter plane in Germany. He continues on and discusses his fascination and belief in UFO's and relates some of the activities he has been engaged in trying to heighten the awareness of the UFO phenomenon. I have no clue about UFO's and that issue has never had much interest with me. However, Cooper does make a legitimate case that UFO's could exist. Certainly any open minded reader should read his treatment of UFO issues with interest. Certainly, Cooper has credibility and is not some nut case. Overall, this is a fine book. Anyone interested in the history of the early space program should have this book. Cooper makes a stinging critique of NASA that after the moonlanding, America lost interest in space exploration and all the dreams of the early space race have been lost. I agree. Cooper has made his mark in history, and his story is an inspiration for anyone that aims high.

20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES, GORDO, July 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Leap of Faith: An Astronaut's Journey Into the Unknown (Hardcover)

This man is one of the greatest heroes of the last half of the 20th century! If only for his tremendous flying abilities, which saved his life and maybe saved the space program when his Mercury capsule suffered a near-complete failure duing his mission. But there's much more to "Gordo" Cooper than just that incredible event. In this book he tells of his early days of flying, his remarkable test pilot experience, being chosen among the elite few for the space program, the testing and training regimen, the practice, practice, practice and then, finally, the exhilirating first lift-off and so much more, including chasing UFO's as a young Air Force pilot in Germany, and having a crew of photographers actually photograph a UFO at close range at Edwards Air Force base! Lots more fascinating stuff in this excellent book. Get it and read it, you'll like it! And you'll like him, too.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Earth to Gordo ... Earth to Gordo ... please come home, October 21, 2001

By	BT "Apollo Nut" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leap of Faith: An Astronaut's Journey Into the Unknown (Hardcover)

Gordon Cooper's accounts of the early Mercury program days are a good read. Cooper covers material that will largely be familiar to readers of other space program books, but adds his own unique perspective and insight. For this reason alone, the book is worth a read.

Cooper speaks frankly to the now-famous story that he encountered a UFO during his flight of Faith 7; it never happened, he says. But there are other things he's seen as a pilot that he can't explain -- things that he describes as being not-of-this-world.

From there, the author loses credibility quickly when he begins to talk about his attempts to unravel the UFO mystery with his clairvoyant sidekick. The reader is left with the impression that not all of Gordo made it back from orbit.

Still, the book is worth a read, and the history (or Cooper's version of it) is an important piece of the story of man's race to the moon.