$3.99 delivery June 2 - 8. Details

Usually ships within 9 to 10 days

[{"displayPrice":"$89.98","priceAmount":89.98,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"89","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"98","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"tC%2B7R7BkN0I53XqlTKUP25wlZHkEOm%2Flbux0MtHroZyEVluMnvIjZP68n2VzB9UfPEEyQOlX%2Fr4AeBfLI3P3xx%2BWJLf1kg%2B%2BkSXgwb3NJmzI0ky9I5QO8DBeNkItCPDKiTcg5%2Fyc%2FdszzV%2BvWk%2BbTM3Yj3q57aPsJK7s%2FQEX5p7MYJdhc4m39Sgw%2FKnB%2BM8S","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW"},{"displayPrice":"$19.23","priceAmount":19.23,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"19","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"23","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"tC%2B7R7BkN0I53XqlTKUP25wlZHkEOm%2Flbux0MtHroZyEVluMnvIjZP68n2VzB9UfPEEyQOlX%2Fr4AeBfLI3P3xx%2BWJLf1kg%2B%2BbHMuUqmb9bBrHoOHxEzQBpef86AqIRDeDEjmvpxaIqhANV3kWhbJvEGdcPUPPcN6Pnk70gEBQuqnXCx5fSkQugwqBnLn%2Fyqe","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED"}]

$$89.98 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Payment

Secure transaction

Ships from

SLAYFOX

Sold by

SLAYFOX

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Details

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Ships from

SLAYFOX

Sold by

SLAYFOX

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.

Read full return policy

$3.99 delivery June 2 - 8. Details

Select delivery location

Used: Good | Details

Sold by SLAYFOX

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See this image

Follow the Authors

Bruce Henderson

Gordon Cooper

Leap of Faith: An Astronaut's Journey into the Unknown Hardcover – Bargain Price, June 1, 2000

4.5 190 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$2.99

—

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$14.88

$35.69

$3.50

Hardcover, Bargain Price, June 1, 2000

$89.98

$19.23

Paperback

"Please retry"

$19.99

$15.09

$8.47

Mass Market Paperback

"Please retry"

$6.05

—

$2.09

Audio, Cassette, Bargain Price

"Please retry"

$86.88

$86.87

$64.59

Kindle
$2.99 Read with Our Free App
Hardcover
$89.98

2 Used from $19.23 1 New from $89.98
Paperback
$19.99

11 Used from $8.47 16 New from $15.09
Mass Market Paperback
$6.05

11 Used from $2.09 1 Collectible from $39.43
Audio, Cassette
$86.88

2 Used from $64.59 2 New from $86.87

Purchase options and add-ons

Print length

279 pages
Language

English
Publisher

HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date

June 1, 2000
See all details

Frequently bought together

Leap of Faith: An Astronaut's Journey into the Unknown

$89.98

Get it Jun 2 - 8

Usually ships within 9 to 10 days.

Ships from and sold by SLAYFOX.

+

For Spacious Skies: The Uncommon Journey of a Mercury Astronaut

$16.30

Get it as soon as Thursday, May 18

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

Sold by Marys Bookstore and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.

+

$18.06

Get it as soon as Thursday, May 18

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

Sold by Thunderboltusa and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Try again!

Details

Added to Cart

Some of these items ship sooner than the others.

Show details Hide details

Choose items to buy together.

Most purchasedin this set of products
Scott Carpenter
49
Hardcover
$16.30
Highest ratedin this set of products
Eugene Cernan
1,446
Paperback
$13.99
Lowest Pricein this set of products
M. Scott Carpenter
121
Paperback
$12.79
This item:
190
Hardcover
$89.98
Al Worden
489
Paperback
$17.95
Wally Schirra
44
Paperback
21 offers from $2.73
John Glenn
337
Hardcover
$18.06
Alan Shepard
1,461
Hardcover
$16.28
Donald K. Slayton
347
Paperback
$25.98

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0002MJDUE
Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins Publishers (June 1, 2000)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 279 pages
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.58 pounds

Customer Reviews:
4.5 190 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Bruce Henderson
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Bruce Henderson is the author of more than twenty nonfiction books, including the #1 New York Times bestseller AND THE SEA WILL TELL, which was made into a highly-rated TV series. His latest book, SONS AND SOLDIERS: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE JEWS WHO ESCAPED THE NAZIS AND RETURNED WITH THE U.S. ARMY TO FIGHT HITLER, hit the New York Times Bestseller List in 2018. Henderson's previous books include RESCUE AT LOS BANOS: THE MOST DARING PRISON CAMP RAID OF WORLD WAR II, and HERO FOUND: THE GREATEST POW ESCAPE OF THE VIETNAM WAR, a national bestseller which told the true story of U.S. Navy pilot Dieter Dengler, with whom Henderson served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CVA-61) during Vietnam. Henderson is also the author of TRACE EVIDENCE: THE HUNT FOR THE I-5 SERIAL KILLER and FATAL NORTH: MURDER AND SURVIVAL ON THE FIRST NORTH POLE EXPEDITION. An award-winning journalist and author, he has taught reporting and writing at USC School of Journalism and Stanford University. Visit his website: www.BruceHendersonBooks.com.
See more on the author's page
Gordon Cooper
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Leroy Gordon “Gordo” Cooper Jr. (1927–2004) was an aerospace engineer and air force pilot who became one of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, the United States’ first manned space program. In 1963 he piloted the final Mercury spaceflight and was the last American to fly an entirely solo orbital mission. Two years later Cooper served as command pilot of Gemini 5 on an eight-day mission alongside astronaut Pete Conrad. In 1970, having flown 222 hours in space, he retired from NASA and the air force at the rank of colonel.
See more on the author's page

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

190 global ratings

5 star		68%
4 star		18%
3 star		9%
2 star		2%
1 star		2%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

See all customer images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

P.J

Leap of Faith, Gordon Cooper

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 2, 2023

Verified Purchase

On time & as described. 👍

Helpful

Thomas Erickson

Test pilot, space hero, Disney Businessman, UFOs then wierdness

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 10, 2010

Verified Purchase

Leap of Faith Gordon Cooper An Astronaut's Journey into the Unknown with Bruce Henderson is a good book with good pictures.Its an easy read. Read it in 2 days.

We see Gordon learning to fly his father's plane at a very young age. He had to use blocks to reach the controls. He solos very young and gets his private pilot license no problem. Later in life he give his mom many rides. She would just hop in. Gordo joins the Marines as a rifleman for a short stay,then goes back to school and later gets into the Air Force. He already knows how to fly so its not too hard learning for Gordo to be a US Air Force pilot. He flies many fast jets and becomes a test pilot at Edwards Air Force base.

Later Gordo gets confidential orders to report to the new agency NASA. He goes through the selection process and becomes one of the Mercury 7 astronauts. So much training and training.He goes up in the last Mercury flight and does a super job. Later he goes up in a Gemini spacecraft. Right before he has an argument with Williams the number 3 man in NASA. Gordo is pissed and buzzes NASA in a jet and Williams freaks out and almost grounds Gordo from going up but later gives the go ahead. In space there is a major problem with an almost dead spacecraft as systems are shutting down and Gordo must manually land the spacecraft. He does great and lands near the water pick up area. Almost bulls eye. Later Williams shakes his hand and says " You were the right person for the job".He gets a big ticker tape parade. He is a hero. He goes to the White House to see President LBJ and asks who classified detailed photos he took from his Gemini flight and why. LBJ says soberly "I did son". Much later Gordo learns why... he took excellent accidental photos of Top Secret Area 51.

Later we see Gordo is very bitter and mad with Deke the head astronaut and Al Shepard being cutthroat and pushing Gordon aside and not allowing him to go up in an Apollo flight. Just back up, backup, backup. He thinks he won't get another chance and retires from NASA. General Curtis Le May says Gordon may get a star (Brig. General) if he stays in the Air Force but regulations say a General can't fly a one seat jet. So Gordo retires from the Air Force as a Colonel.

Later Gordo talks about a UFO sighting he had flying a jet over Germany. Officially its explained as a weather balloon. Gordo says that's the first weather balloon I've ever seen with landing gear. He also talks about the Air Force Blue Book and UFO sightings. So far so good. I enjoy this and have an open mind. Then he talks about that we have actually been visited by intelligent ETs. OK the book is still great. I read Chariots of the Gods and still have an open mind.

Later we see Gordon in a company that discovers a 3000 year old site that predated the Mayans and Incas. He lets the authorities have the artifacts rather than his company plunder them. He states it was the legal and right thing to do. Gordon becomes a VP with Disney involved with advanced technology.

So far the book is fascinating and 5 star. Then the crapola starts. He meets Valerie Ransone who claims she gets mental communications with extraterrestrial life. Later Gordon meets a PHD scientist claiming to have taken a ride up in an alien spacecraft. Its gets even more unbelievable as Valerie says the aliens want to take Gordon up with the scientist again. Just before Cooper goes out to go up Valerie tells Cooper the aliens have had second thoughts.

I am sorry Gordon Cooper and Bruce Henderson I'm a hard science kind of guy. As an amateur astronomer of over 40 years I do believe that there is intelligent life out there. New Exoplanets are being discovered it seems monthly. There are millions of galaxies each holding billions of stars. The probability is that there MUST be other life out there. However INMO it may not look like us or even be carbon based. Who knows. At this time its too far out for me to believe that Valerie and others are getting metal communications from ETs. Show ANY proof of these mental communications. Sorry Gordon Cooper and Bruce Henderson you left me way out there in space with this one. 90% a 5 star book then very late rapid degradation to 3 1/2 to 4 stars. Gordon Cooper a great American hero with many wonderful accomplishments. I am sad Gordon Cooper passed away but at this time I can't believe in mental communications with ETs. Its too big a Leap of Faith for me.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Al Shepard as Darth Vader? Naaaah.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 26, 2005

Verified Purchase

This work has produced a rather hefty array of responses from Amazon readers, many of whom are stridently opposed to Cooper's career-long pursuit of the secrets of UFO's and other mysterious new technologies, and others who see in the Mercury astronaut a hero of what now appears to be a cause losing steam. Our focus here is on the book, however. For as several reviewers have correctly observed, this is a tale of two Gordo's, one battling the unknowns of space, and the other battling the knowns of the NASA/military industrial complex.

Unfortunately, neither tale is particularly compelling. The account of the astronaut's career, coming as it did in 2000, was the tail of the dog in a string of early astronaut autobiographies as the pioneers rushed to beat the Grim Reaper with their version of events. As to the second, Cooper's extensive research and observations about UFO's are not as deliciously crazy as some would like us to believe, either. In fact, some of his conjectures about alien propulsion systems and the like are rather fascinating to the layman.

While Cooper has been a busy man since leaving NASA thirty-something years ago, it would seem that something he neglected to do is read what others around the space program were writing in those three decades, and specifically what they were writing about him. One Amazon reader in this sequence of reviews reports to having collected 150 such volumes himself. The general consensus of post-Apollo writers seems to be that Cooper's years with NASA are somewhat enigmatic. One of the original seven Mercury astronauts, he was the last one to fly, a statement of sorts about how the NASA hierarchy regarded him. [Oddly, NASA's "the best shall be first" policy in Mercury resulted in Cooper's complex and spectacularly successful Faith 7 two-day marathon, the last flight in the Mercury series.]

Cooper and Pete Conrad would fly the Gemini 5 mission in the summer of 1965 to test fuel cells, endurance and, as the author observes wryly, defecation technique. But after Gemini 5, Cooper becomes an invisible man. He was designated to the back-up crews of three future flights, the last of which, Apollo 13, he turned down as a political slight.

So why did the hero of Faith 7 fall out of favor in succeeding years? This is the question most readers today would probably bring to the book. The author himself never does soul-searching about his own role in why his space career stalled. Instead he boils his dilemma down to two words: Al Shepard. Cooper believes that Shepard, embittered by his health problems and eager to get back into rotation, used his influence with Deke Slayton, then assigning crews, to keep the Mercury hero under the radar. Cooper's distrust of Shepard appears to date back to his Faith 7 days in 1963 when he asked Wally Schirra to privately tail Shepard, then Cooper's back-up, during pre-flight training.

Cooper cites the Shepard/Slayton cabal as symptomatic of the increasing bureaucracy of NASA, the military, and the federal government. He notes, for example, his complaint in a conversation with President Lyndon Johnson that his photography from Gemini 5 had been seized and classified. Johnson coolly informed him that he, the president, had given the order. It is important for the reader to observe keenly Cooper's misadventures with government entities, for they are of one weave with his later criticisms of government cover-up in the reporting of UFO sightings and general hostility toward individuals like himself at the outer margins of technology, from this world or another.

If Cooper feels that he was blackballed by Shepard and Slayton, what can we say of astronauts Jim Lovell, Frank Borman, Gene Cernan, and Pete Conrad, to name several whose careers thrived under the Slaton-Shepard regime? Lovell, in fact, flew four space missions [two Gemini, two Apollo] after Cooper's Gemini 5, and he is living proof that the "evil duo" was not completely adverse to the emergence of "stars" in the astronaut corps.

No, the answer to Cooper's dilemma is more personal, and probably reflects nagging doubts in NASA about Cooper's manageability and application to the growing complexity of the space business. In this Cooper was hardly alone. Nearly all of the original Mercury Seven had difficulty adjusting to a bigger astronaut corps, greater bureaucracy, public relations, politics, and the general idea of "teamwork." It is no accident that Schirra and Shepard, the two Mercury veterans to fly Apollo, each chose all rookie teams. [Walt Cunningham of Apollo 7 would refer to Schirra as "the cock of the walk."] Schirra himself found the new NASA so discomfiting that he passed on a sure moon landing assignment and retired.

Because Cooper does not really address his own career difficulties with insight, the charges of some historians that Cooper did not train or apply himself sufficiently will still be left to hang out there in the foreseeable future. This is regrettable, because Cooper, like his colleague Scotty Carpenter, was one of the true multidimensional human beings of the early space program. And I give him a great deal of credit for his respect of John Glenn and others for whom timing and luck made them national heroes.

Given Cooper's colorful space career, his subsequent employment by Disney, among others, comes as little surprise. The intrepid pilot of Faith 7 became--how can I put it?--a magnet for scientific entrepreneurs, some of remarkable brilliance, some eccentrics, and some undecipherable. Cooper apparently never lost touch with his astronaut friends, but he certainly picked up new ones along the way, including the mysterious clairvoyant and purveyor of character Valerie Ransone who seems to have preoccupied his personal and scientific attentions for a period in the 1980's. Perhaps if he had met Valerie in 1965, it would be Gordon Cooper making that giant leap for mankind.

14 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Bedinog

Leap of Credulity?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 15, 2012

Verified Purchase

One of the fun things about reading astronaut biographies is discovering the different individual personalities making up this group of elite men and women; well at least within the limitations of what the biographer is able to fathom or the autobiographer is prepared to share. In the 279 pages of this work, I'm not sure how much of the real Gordon 'Gordo' Cooper we get, although to be fair, the quite minimal coverage of his adult private domestic life probably says something positive about his reluctance to air the washing (clean or dirty)in public, when many readers revel in digging the dirt in any celebrity story.
What does strike me is the professionalism and gravitas of the man who has always had(in the public mind anyway)the reputation of one of the more happy go lucky astronauts, not helped, in my view by his almost buffoon-like portrayal by Dennis Quaid in Philip Kaufman's film version of Tom Wolfe's 'The Right Stuff'

Other reviewers have really covered much of the ground of this very readable work. Beyond the usual history of Cooper's flying days with the USAF, subsequent astronaut career with NASA and fragmentary details post-NASA, the most controversial area of his life, ie interest and experience of UFOs etc has drawn the most comment, and indeed criticism. Some 25% of the book is concerned with not only UFOs and extra-terrestrial life, but with what we might generally call the paranormal. His interest in the work of inventor Nikola Tesla and association with the controversial Valerie Ransone seems to have inspired scorn and shudders, but littte admiration. He comes across as disarmingly honest about his explorations and beliefs in these rather difficult areas, and whilst some allege he has spiced things up to sell more books, and others consider him gullible, it should perhaps be taken at face value. Spicing things up to sell books doesn't make sense;at his age and with the celebrity attached to his name, he would have no need to compromise his credibility. As to credulity, if he has been led up the garden path by what seem outlandish ideas about alien encounters then that is as much a part of his story as anything else. It's certainly different.
Perhaps his judgement isn't all it could be as he paints a rosy picture of rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun as a nonparticipant in the appalling treatment of slave labour at the Nazi rocket research establishment at Peenemunde, flying in the face of many other opinions. We'll never know the whole truth, of course, but at least Gordon Cooper's loyalty as a friend can't be faulted.
All in all, this is yet another fascinating account of one whose life encompassed those heady days of early manned space exploration, when, in hindsight at least, it appears there were those who believed we could reach beyond the pettiness of an earthbound existence.
An easy read for fans of the genre. The book seems to be out of print, but as usual, patient searching should find a copy at a reasonable price. Well worth a look.

3 people found this helpful

Tish

This book will convert you.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 20, 2020

Verified Purchase

Excellent UFO book its well written and easy to read the only reason I give it four stars and not five is because I wanted to read more of it.

Debbie Griffiths

Ufo book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 22, 2019

Verified Purchase

Purchased for father in law he’s amazed with this book

L. Newman

Really interesting.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 25, 2016

Verified Purchase

Really interesting. Well written.

One person found this helpful

Dr A

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 2, 2017

Verified Purchase

another good read

See all reviews

Amazon Music Stream millions of songs	Amazon Advertising Find, attract, and engage customers	6pm Score deals on fashion brands	AbeBooks Books, art & collectibles	ACX Audiobook Publishing Made Easy	Sell on Amazon Start a Selling Account

Amazon Business Everything For Your Business	Amazon Fresh Groceries & More Right To Your Door	AmazonGlobal Ship Orders Internationally	Home Services Experienced Pros Happiness Guarantee	Amazon Ignite Sell your original Digital Educational Resources	Amazon Web Services Scalable Cloud Computing Services

Audible Listen to Books & Original Audio Performances	Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide	Box Office Mojo Find Movie Box Office Data	ComiXology Thousands of Digital Comics	DPReview Digital Photography	Fabric Sewing, Quilting & Knitting

Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations	IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities	IMDbPro Get Info Entertainment Professionals Need	Kindle Direct Publishing Indie Digital & Print Publishing Made Easy	Amazon Photos Unlimited Photo Storage Free With Prime	Prime Video Direct Video Distribution Made Easy

Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands	Amazon Warehouse Great Deals on Quality Used Products	Whole Foods Market America’s Healthiest Grocery Store	Woot! Deals and Shenanigans	Zappos Shoes & Clothing	Ring Smart Home Security Systems

eero WiFi Stream 4K Video in Every Room	Blink Smart Security for Every Home	Neighbors App Real-Time Crime & Safety Alerts	Amazon Subscription Boxes Top subscription boxes – right to your door	PillPack Pharmacy Simplified	Amazon Renewed Like-new products you can trust

Buy new: $89.98$89.98 $3.99 delivery: June 2 - 8 Ships from: SLAYFOX Sold by: SLAYFOX

Buy used: $19.23

Follow the Authors

Leap of Faith: An Astronaut's Journey into the Unknown Hardcover – Bargain Price, June 1, 2000

Purchase options and add-ons

Frequently bought together

What do customers buy after viewing this item?

Product details

Videos

About the authors

Bruce Henderson

Gordon Cooper

Customer reviews

Reviews with images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Buy new:

$89.98

$3.99 delivery: June 2 - 8

Ships from: SLAYFOX

Sold by: SLAYFOX

Buy used:

$19.23