[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 24342]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        HONORING THE LIFE OF ASTRONAUT LEROY GORDON COOPER, JR.

  Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Committee on Science be discharged from further consideration of the 
resolution (H. Res. 847) honoring the life of astronaut Leroy Gordon 
Cooper, Jr., and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from North Carolina?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 847

       Whereas Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr., was born on March 6, 
     1927, in Shawnee, Oklahoma;
       Whereas Gordon Cooper served as a colonel in the United 
     States Air Force and was selected as one of the original 
     Project Mercury astronauts in April of 1959;
       Whereas, when Gordon Cooper piloted the Faith 7 spacecraft 
     on the final operational mission of Project Mercury from May 
     15 to May 16, 1963, he traveled a total of 546,167 statute 
     miles and became the first astronaut from the United States 
     to spend more than a day in space;
       Whereas, when Gordon Cooper served as command pilot on the 
     8-day 120-orbit Gemini 5 mission that began on August 21, 
     1965, he and pilot Charles Conrad established a new space 
     endurance record by traveling a distance of 3,312,993 miles 
     in an elapsed time of 190 hours and 56 minutes;
       Whereas Gordon Cooper was the first man to go into space 
     for a second time;
       Whereas Gordon Cooper served as backup command pilot for 
     the Gemini 12 mission and as backup commander for the Apollo 
     10 flight;
       Whereas Gordon Cooper logged 222 hours in space and retired 
     from the Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space 
     Administration in 1970;
       Whereas the special honors Gordon Cooper received during 
     his lifetime included the Air Force Distinguished Flying 
     Cross, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
     Distinguished Service Medal, and the John F. Kennedy Trophy; 
     and
       Whereas Gordon Cooper passed away at his home in Ventura, 
     California, on October 4, 2004, at the age of 77: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved,  That the House of Representatives honors the 
     life of astronaut Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr.

  Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Speaker, during this Congress, the President has 
laid out a bold plan to return men to the moon and then go on to Mars 
as we begin to explore the wonders of our solar system, a vision that 
would not be possible were it not for a group of exceptional men who 
stepped forward to accept our Nation's Manifest Destiny of the 20th 
century. In those very early days some 45 years ago, we were behind in 
the race into space. The Russians had put the first satellite into 
orbit, sent the first living creature into space, and were the first to 
send an object to the Moon. American prestige was suffering around the 
world, and President Eisenhower and the Congress realized that things 
had to change.
  In response to that challenge, they created NASA and along with it, 
Project Mercury, the initial step that got us to the moon first. But 
those were difficult days. Our scientists and engineers were struggling 
to build rockets that were capable of lifting the heavy payloads needed 
to get us there, and those rockets would explode in gigantic fireballs 
almost as often as they didn't. Being strapped inside a flying bomb and 
hurled into space at 17,000 miles an hour was hazardous duty of the 
highest order, but in April 1959, the Nation chose seven courageous men 
who were willing to put the interests of the Nation ahead of their own.
  One of these was Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr., a native of Shawnee, OK, a 
colonel in the U.S. Air Force and a test pilot who logged more than 
7,000 hours flying time--4,000 of which were in jet aircraft. They 
called him ``Gordo'', and in May 1963, he became the first American to 
orbit the earth for more than a day. Two years later along with 
astronaut Peter Conrad, Gordon Cooper set a new space endurance record 
by traveling more than 3 million miles as the command pilot of the 
Gemini 5 mission and demonstrated for the first time that men could 
live and work in space long enough to make the trip to the Moon and 
back.
  He continued to support our national goal of landing a man on the 
Moon by serving as the backup command pilot for the Gemini 12 mission 
in 1966 and as backup commander for the Apollo 10 trip to the moon in 
1969, logging a total of 222 hours in space and receiving a number of 
special honors along the way before he retired in 1970.
  Mr. Speaker, I remain convinced that the exploration of space in many 
ways holds the key to our future here on earth. Just as it was when 
Gordon Cooper first went into space more than 40 years ago, space 
travel remains a dangerous business. We have experienced some setbacks 
along the way, and yet it remains our destiny. In future years as we 
explore the moon and beyond, the successes that we will enjoy and the 
wonders that we will find on the other side will have been made 
possible by the courage and devotion to country of men like Gordon 
Cooper, and it is with great pleasure that I rise today in support of 
House Resolution 847 to honor his gifts to our Nation.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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