Rating: 
Summary: Must Read
Review: A terrific read. One of the rarest things to be found on earth today is a man with an open mind,and the courage to speak it. Gordon Cooper is such a man. True progress in the sciences comes through people who are prepared to investigate the "unbelievable". Sometimes it's a dry hole; sometimes they strike gold. Where would we be today without the likes of Newton, Einstein, Faraday and many others who were not afraid to buck the conventional wisdom of their times and dive into the unknown? This book is an excellent insider's view of the space program but it is so, so much more. Cooper shows his courage not only in his feats in high performance aircraft and in space but also in his willingess to risk criticism in advancing theories based on his own observations and experience. This is most evident in his willingness to discus openly his direct experiences with UFO's, tackling a subject that most scientists, engineers, and astronauts run from for fear of ridicule and censure. Ridcule is perhaps the world's greatest but unworthy censor. It is the weapon of choice of intellectual cowards. Cooper shows his courage not only in his physical acts such as bringing his powerless space capsule back to earth safely despite tremendous odds but also in his courage to face the reality of what he has seen and witnessed. He is a true hero not only in deed but in mind as well. As the former President of Beechcraft and Raytheon Aircraft Company, I spent many years in the aerospace industry and got to meet a number of the astronauts, but, unfortunately never got to meet "Gordo". After reading his book, I believe he is truly the "best" of the "best". I salute him for his achievements and for his unshakable courage. Read his book.
Rating:
Summary: Unusual insight into the original Mercury Astronauts
Review: As a amatuer aerospace historian, I have read numerous articles on the mercury astronaut program. This is unique becuase Cooper points out the angles that each astronaut took to get through the program. In addition, Cooper is probably one of the first premier aerospace notables who verify in writting his own encounters and experiences with possible UFO's. This book had a significant amount of interesting stories in which one can conclude that our fledgling space program would never had the success that it now enjoys without the sheer determination and bravery of a few good americans like Cooper.
Rating:
Summary: An Inspiring Story from one who has the Right Stuff!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Great - surprising insider revelations
Review: Bruce Henderson has done it again. He has the unusual gift of putting us in the minds of those he writes for or about. Colnel Cooper could not have chosen a better author to collaborate with. With the astonishing declarations of Colonel Cooper and the facts about the space program and space itself he reveals, I am truly surprised that it has not been the subject of shows such as Sixty Minutes and Dateline.
Rating: 
Summary: Flawed crossbreed of astronaut biography and conspiracy yarn
Review: Colonel Gordon Cooper is one of the Mercury Seven, the first group of American astronauts. A test pilot from Edwards Air Force base, he flew the last and longest of the pioneering Mercury missions, dubbed Faith 7, and later went into space a second time aboard Gemini 5. A maverick at heart, Cooper fell out of favour with some of the NASA higher-ups and left the agency after being denied command of a lunar landing mission. His autobiography, Leap of Faith, is a surprising and somewhat schizoid read, mixing Cooper's space program experience with increasingly dubious episodes on UFO sightings and telepathy. The overall structure has a stitched-together feel to it, and the last third with Gordo charging off into the world of the paranormal seems to belong to another book entirely. The writing style throughout is average journalist fare - bland vocabulary, repeated words in one sentence -, but not too bad overall. Cooper's account of the space program offers no startling insights or deep emotional truths; his added personal perspective is interesting enough, though; the actual narrations of the Faith 7 flight, photographing the Himalayas, manual re-entry and all, and the 8-day Gemini mission with Pete Conrad are quite captivating. There is very little in the way of technical detail, some nice stories about training and promotional voyages, the usual photographs, and that's it. All in all, Leap of Faith remains a superficial effort. Gordo's childhood and background, his career before NASA and his family life receive preciously little attention, serving mostly to produce anecdotes or, in the case of his Air Force years, UFO speculations. Disappointing, the more so in light of the following chapters. When he's denied the chance to command an Apollo mission, Cooper leaves NASA in 1970. Some accounts claim that he was slacking off, that he carried his maverick attitude into training, while others say it was a political decision by astronaut chief Deke Slayton, who wanted to get his friend Al Shepard a flight (Leap of Faith, naturally, supports the latter point of view). It's interesting, in this regard, to compare Slayton's superb and carefully researched autobiography with Cooper's effort. After retirement, Gordo embarks on a surreal journey of X-fileish proportions, minus the humour: after some time flight testing "saucers" build by a Salt Lake City businessman and UFO believer, he is contacted by a young woman who claims to have telepathic contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence. Naturally, she describes these aliens - the "Universal Intelligence Consortium" - in such unimaginative and naively anthropocentric terms that it merits pity. But Gordo, being attracted to her and all, obviously reasons differently. And so the two spend their time together reconstructing obscure Tesla inventions, until she tells Cooper that he's been selected to take a spin aboard a real alien spaceship. Alas, the mission is scrubbed at the last minute, seemingly due to political struggles between various extraterrestrial factions. Too bad. At least Gordo is portrayed with a last holdout of scepticism throughout these strange proceedings, and undecided in the end. Ultimately, Leap of Faith merely repeats some of the popular conspiracy theories - Area 51 is there, too -, content to raise supposedly unanswered questions. Still, the example it gives of uncritical thinking and silly (often self-contradictory) logic is troubling. The epilogue, with Cooper talking about the present-day space program and a farewell to his buddy, the late Pete Conrad, comes as quite a relief. The more so since the book is riddled with a myriad of inaccuracies. To name but two of the most obvious examples, the Saturn V rocket's first stage has five engines, not eight. And Russian Cosmonaut Pavel Belyayev, who went into space but once aboard Voskhod 2, was hardly "a veteran of two spaceflights" when Cooper met him in 1965. As aviation books go, it doesn't get any sloppier than this. Regarding the UFO mutterings, they are rendered even more outlandish - if it were needed - alongside capital mistakes like these. Natural, perhaps, considering the lesser "conspiracy" fare on the market, although one must feel disappointed to find such yarn in a book carrying the name of Gordon Cooper. The benefit of doubt, mercifully, suggests that a certain Mr. Henderson did the actual writing, but the fact that Gordo obviously didn't bother much with proof-reading is distinctly unimpressive just as well. Especially when working with an author who is truly at odds with looking up basic technical and biographical data. Maverick or not, if you do an autobiography, you might as well do it right. Still, the okay passages on the space program, with Gordo's refreshing "strap-it-on-and-go" attitude shining through, prevent Leap of Faith from becoming a total disaster. When read like an adventure novel - "The Right Stuff" meets "X-Files" -, the book has some good moments, and the "owns all"-space buff will merrily add it to his collection despite the flaws (he knows where else to find the accurate data, anyway). A less specialised (or less nutty) reader, though, will find the Cooper / Henderson cooperation quite unsatisfying.
Rating:
Summary: GORDO TELLS ALL
Review: Gordon Cooper is one of America's true heroes, of a kind we don't have many of anymore. In this book, he and Bruce Henderson tell the story of the early days of the space program from the perspective of a real insider who knows what really went on and isn't afraid to talk about it. From his earliest days as a pilot (he learned to fly at the age of five!) to his fighter pilot and test pilot assignments to his astounding manual return flight in his Mercury capsule Faith 7 he proved himself to be one cool customer, and a natural at the controls. His current thoughts on the unresolved issues of UFO's and possible extraterrestrial visitations of planet Earth are insightful and provocative, especially coming from such a credible source. All in all, a smooth and compelling read and a great book. Bravo, Colonel Cooper!
Rating: 
Summary: Earth to Gordo ... Earth to Gordo ... please come home
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Earth to Gordo ... Earth to Gordo ... please come home
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Two books in one
Review: Gordon Cooper's book is actually two books in one--one very good, and one very bad. The first is an exciting document about his life as an astronaut. The second, apparently written mostly by contributor Bruce Henderson, concerns his experience with extraterrestrial aliens and the hunt for new energy sources. In the first book, Cooper recounts his 22-orbit flight aboard his Mercury capsule, Faith 7. It was fascinating reading as he described how, near the end of his flight, the capsule malfunctioned, and the only things left working were his radio and the manual controls. That he made it back to earth safely is a testament to the fighter-pilot can-do nature. Cooper also reveals the internal politics that went on in choosing the flight crews, including why he never got to go to the moon. This all makes for great reading. Cooper also discusses his belief in UFOs, and tells of his own sightings and top-secret UFO photos, and describes scientifically why a saucer is the ideal shape for an advanced style of aircraft. It's all believable, compelling and wonderful. But then Cooper begins his post-NASA life, and meets a mysterious woman named Valerie Ransone. This is where the book begins to fall apart. Ransone claims to have telepathic contact with extraterrestrial aliens, and Cooper believes her. She is able to bend spoons, a lá Uri Geller, which Cooper witnesses. She wants to form a partnership with Cooper to develop new sources of infinite energy, aided by their alien friends. In the end, the company fails, and Ransone fades from Cooper's life. I have to admit, as far fetched as this sounds, I found myself giving Cooper the benefit of the doubt. I respect the opinions of a man with advanced degrees in science, as well as space experience. After all, it is the scientist's job to ask "Why?" in an objective manner. But this is why the second half of the book fails miserably. We never hear Cooper ask "Why?" He claims that Ransone's spoon bending was not a parlor trick, but how can he be so sure? Uri Geller was revealed as a fraud. If I were a scientist and had people bending spoons in front of me, I would have immediately marched them into a scientifically controlled experiment. But Cooper did no such thing. At one point, Ransone invites Cooper to go on a genuine flying saucer ride with her alien friends. But at the last minute, the trip is cancelled. BUT OF COURSE. This is always the way these meet-the-aliens stories happen. A big build-up, and then nothing. The main reason this part of the book is so bad is the narrative voice. Bruce Henderson writes it as if it were a work of fiction, as a melodramatic narrative of Gordo and Valerie's struggles together. And though the objective of their business, Advanced Technology Group, sounds impressive, we never get more than a gloss concerning what they actually did. In the end, Ransone comes off sounding like a nut. And Cooper sounds like he was used. A number of reviewers have mentioned Leap of Faith's scientific inaccuracies and incorrect facts. The most glaring for me was the mention of the "Saturn VIII," an eight-engine rocket described as the "most powerful rocket ever built by man." But no rocket ever existed. The most powerful rocket ever built was the Saturn V, which had five engines in its first stage. A "Saturn VIII" was never even conceived of or designed, much less built. It's hard to imagine how such an error could have made it into a book written by an astronaut. I've been trying to understand Gordo's title. It seems to me that this is what Cooper took in writing this book, knowing that his accounts of UFOs and ETs would probably be scoffed at by much of the scientific community. Trouble is, much of his argument is objective and convincing. But the book loses its edge when it stops describing science, and delves into the unexplained without trying to explain it, while reading like a dime-store novel. I'd like to see a sequel in which we hear more from Cooper the scientist, and not some ghostwriter.
Rating:
Summary: Two books in one
Review: Gordon Cooper's book is actually two books in one--one very good, and one very bad. The first is an exciting document about his life as an astronaut. The second, apparently written mostly by contributor Bruce Henderson, concerns his experience with extraterrestrial aliens and the hunt for new energy sources. In the first book, Cooper recounts his 22-orbit flight aboard his Mercury capsule, Faith 7. It was fascinating reading as he described how, near the end of his flight, the capsule malfunctioned, and the only things left working were his radio and the manual controls. That he made it back to earth safely is a testament to the fighter-pilot can-do nature. Cooper also reveals the internal politics that went on in choosing the flight crews, including why he never got to go to the moon. This all makes for great reading. Cooper also discusses his belief in UFOs, and tells of his own sightings and top-secret UFO photos, and describes scientifically why a saucer is the ideal shape for an advanced style of aircraft. It's all believable, compelling and wonderful. But then Cooper begins his post-NASA life, and meets a mysterious woman named Valerie Ransone. This is where the book begins to fall apart. Ransone claims to have telepathic contact with extraterrestrial aliens, and Cooper believes her. She is able to bend spoons, a lá Uri Geller, which Cooper witnesses. She wants to form a partnership with Cooper to develop new sources of infinite energy, aided by their alien friends. In the end, the company fails, and Ransone fades from Cooper's life. I have to admit, as far fetched as this sounds, I found myself giving Cooper the benefit of the doubt. I respect the opinions of a man with advanced degrees in science, as well as space experience. After all, it is the scientist's job to ask "Why?" in an objective manner. But this is why the second half of the book fails miserably. We never hear Cooper ask "Why?" He claims that Ransone's spoon bending was not a parlor trick, but how can he be so sure? Uri Geller was revealed as a fraud. If I were a scientist and had people bending spoons in front of me, I would have immediately marched them into a scientifically controlled experiment. But Cooper did no such thing. At one point, Ransone invites Cooper to go on a genuine flying saucer ride with her alien friends. But at the last minute, the trip is cancelled. BUT OF COURSE. This is always the way these meet-the-aliens stories happen. A big build-up, and then nothing. The main reason this part of the book is so bad is the narrative voice. Bruce Henderson writes it as if it were a work of fiction, as a melodramatic narrative of Gordo and Valerie's struggles together. And though the objective of their business, Advanced Technology Group, sounds impressive, we never get more than a gloss concerning what they actually did. In the end, Ransone comes off sounding like a nut. And Cooper sounds like he was used. A number of reviewers have mentioned Leap of Faith's scientific inaccuracies and incorrect facts. The most glaring for me was the mention of the "Saturn VIII," an eight-engine rocket described as the "most powerful rocket ever built by man." But no rocket ever existed. The most powerful rocket ever built was the Saturn V, which had five engines in its first stage. A "Saturn VIII" was never even conceived of or designed, much less built. It's hard to imagine how such an error could have made it into a book written by an astronaut. I've been trying to understand Gordo's title. It seems to me that this is what Cooper took in writing this book, knowing that his accounts of UFOs and ETs would probably be scoffed at by much of the scientific community. Trouble is, much of his argument is objective and convincing. But the book loses its edge when it stops describing science, and delves into the unexplained without trying to explain it, while reading like a dime-store novel. I'd like to see a sequel in which we hear more from Cooper the scientist, and not some ghostwriter.
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