Rating: 
Summary: The Best Ride
Review: Of the many books in my space collection (and I've got over 40 of them), this one took me on one of the the best rides of all. I have to agree with the majority of other reader/reviewers, Mr. Cooper is a hero for the ages. His recounting of the whole range of his experiences with NASA in the days of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo has the distinct feeling of truth, no matter how unsugarcoated it might be. And his first-hand impressions of his fellow astronauts, albeit his "band of brothers", is one of the few clear pictures of those diverse (and not always heroic) personalities who launched America into space that I've read. Cooper's own personality flaws are also on display, but they don't undermine his unparalleled flying skills and remarkable coolness under pressure, as we get a first-hand look at his bringing home his Faith 7 capsule only seconds before it would have burned up as it re-entered the atmosphere at the conclusion of his record-setting voyage. He was cool, it was hot! It's also fascinating to read about his UFO encounters, his post-NASA life, and his hopes for a trip to Mars "when he's John Glenn's age". I found this to be a completely satisfying read, and hope this intrepid adventurer will write another book with even more details of his attempts to develop alternate energy sources that might well power our civilization into even more exciting explorations of space. Thanks for the ride, Gordo.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Book, Gordo, But...
Review: One of the original seven Mercury astronauts, "Gordo" Cooper was also one of the best pilots among a group of great pilots. He flew the last Mercury mission, which some rate as the best flight of the series. In LEAP OF FAITH, Gordo gives the reader much-appreciated insights not found elsewhere into his Faith 7 Mercury flight, especially his effort and skill as a pilot-astronaut to return to earth (right on target, too!) when his spacecraft's systems were dying on his last few orbits. Also, he recounts his flight with the late Pete Conrad on Gemini 5, a record-breaking mission that almost was forced to come home early. Many of these details have been overshadowed by other flights, and other astronauts. Gordo's early years and accounts of meeting Amelia Earhart, Pancho Barnes, and other notable pilots are quite enjoyable. His portait of his mother and father, and Gordo's boyhood are interesting, too.But, a good book could have been even better, I feel, if Gordo would have written more (especially for real die-hard astro buffs) of his unfortunate inability to secure a prime crew command spot on an Apollo mission. Andrew Chaikin (FROM EARTH TO THE MOON) and others have written that Gordo never flew in space after Gemini 5 because of his "strap-it-on-and-go" attitude and alleged failure to take training for missions seriously. Gordo, in this book, points instead to politics within NASA which denied him a command slot on a lunar mission. A little more direct response to Chaikin's account and other similar accounts (i.e., Deke Slayton's book) would have been helpful. Sure, Gordo probably drove the NASA bureaucracy crazy, but no one could fly better missions as illustrated in his two successful flights which he rescued from failure by his cool demeanor, his skills, and professionalism. His ability to forgive NASA's slight is admirable, as is his candor regarding the Congressional politicians who killed the Saturn V program, harming our long-term interests in space. Another "but"---the UFO and related material in the book can make your head spin. I think Gordo recognizes that, but just puts the UFO information out in a way that I believe Gordo intended for the reader to make up his or her own mind. Still, it is pretty heady stuff coming from a true American hero and space pioneer. I really feel for Gordo in not being able to go to the moon on an Apollo flight which he deserved by performing where it truly counts---in the cockpit or in the spacecraft. A must read if you collect or read astronaut-authored books. Thanks, Col. Gordo Cooper!
Rating: 
Summary: One too many trips around the Earth
Review: The first part of this book is interesting. The whole Mercury program, the behind the scenes politicing, the trips into space. And then the book gets weird. It is always interesting when public figures give UFO accounts but it would have been nice to have some backup documentation rather than vague acusations about area-51 and the government hiding things. This government doesn't seem to be able to hide two people making out in an office nevermind capturing space aliens, transporting their ship somewhere, figuring out how it works etc etc. If two people can't keep a secret can the 100's that would have had to be involved in such a coverup keep a secret? Come on folks, this guy appears to have had one too many trips around the planet. Anyway its light summer reading and like I said, the first part of the book is fine.
Rating: 
Summary: Makes unbelievable claims about space aliens and NASA
Review: There is an old saying that you should keep an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out. Cooper's brains clearly fell out a long time ago. In this book he comes off as a paranoid nut, not a hero. Everything bad that ever happened to him, such as his being passed over for an Apollo mission, was someone else's fault. It is not really heroic to blame other people for your problems. Considering how screwy Cooper later became, with his talk about space aliens, one wonders if he was passed over because astronaut chief Deke Slayton felt he was unstable. If you want to know the real story of what happened to Gordo Cooper back in the early days of Mercury, you will not get it from Gordo Cooper, unfortunately. There are other, better books that tell this story. There is too much goofiness and too many errors here to mention in a review. But two parts in particular stand out: On pages 227-232, Cooper recounts how extraterrestrials contacted a female friend of his and told her that there was a problem with the space shuttle. He notified NASA and saved the shuttle from destruction. On pages 254-259, he tells how he was offered a trip on a flying saucer. He packed his bags and prepared to journey to the desert for his flight. But the flight was canceled when the aliens had a political squabble on their home planet. (I am NOT making this up.) Even if you are only interested in the NASA stuff and ignore the parts dealing with UFOs, there are also tons of simple factual errors throughout the book. It is filled with stories about NASA missions that are just not true. For instance, noted space author Jim Oberg investigated Cooper's claim that photos that Cooper took on his Gemini mission showed the supersecret Area 51. Oberg looked at the orbital track for the mission and saw that the flight never got near the base. He also found the photos in NASA's archive and they did not show any supersecret base. If Jim Oberg could look up these photos, how come Cooper and his co-writer could not? This book should do a great deal to destroy the myth that surrounds astronauts. Rather than super-beings, they can be just as crazy as anybody. And just because someone says that they remembered something happened does not mean that it actually happened.
Rating:
Summary: Cooper proves that he's a space case
Review: There is an old saying that you should keep an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out. Cooper's brains clearly fell out a long time ago. In this book he comes off as a paranoid nutcase. Everything bad that ever happened to him, such as his being passed over for an Apollo mission, was someone else's fault. (Considering how screwy he later became, one wonders if he was passed over because Deke Slayton felt he was unstable.) There is too much goofiness and too many errors here to mention in a review. But two parts in particular stand out: On pages 227-232, Cooper recounts how extraterrestrials contacted a female friend of his and told her that there was a problem with the space shuttle. He notified NASA and saved the shuttle from destruction. On pages 254-259, he tells how he was offered a trip on a flying saucer. He packed his bags and prepared to journey to the desert for his flight. But the flight was canceled when the aliens had a political squabble on their home planet. (I am NOT making this up.) This book should do a great deal to destroy the myth that surrounds astronauts. Rather than super-beings, they can be just as crazy as anybody.
Rating:
Summary: Dreadful
Review: This book belongs alongside The National Enquirer. What little space history that is included in this book is frequently incorrect. Save your money and watch the X-Files instead.
Rating:
Summary: A good read..good story telling an awaking
Review: This is a well told story from a very credible source. Puts you inperspective as a person and makes one excited about what the future may hold.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and well put together ...
Review: This is an interesting story about the youngest astronaut Gordon Cooper whom I really wasn't aware of until his audio novel. I love reading about astronauts and their adventures. I was equally intrigued about his candid UFO experiences and those of other pilots who had confided in him, sharing their own experiences. The space connection with Valerie Ranson and her interest in Nikola Telsa's work was a surprise when I got to it. The description of the UFO and how it uses the force around it to produce a Gravitational force drive was great! I mean why not. The solution to funding the Advanced Technology Center is really quite straight forward, write books about your work, findings, connections, just like this book and audio tape. The Tesla tower and how to finance it is a no brainer. Incorporate cell phone technology into the chips which receive the power. No company will build something for free, but they will love to make money off something which is very affordable to produce. Bill the user on per use basis. Imagine electric cars of the future not requiring batteries at all. Instead the automobile industry bills the user on their power consumption received from the Tesla towers they have erected around the country. Power shifts from the Oil industry to the Automobile industry. Automobile profits go through the roof! Result - no more vehicle air pollution in twenty years. Don't be sad about the length of time to introduce new technologies. It takes one complete generation to effect change. In order to make the change though the young must be educated with it. For instance I've been raised on the notion of UFO's and extraterrestial life since I was born (Star Trek etc). They could fly in tomorrow and I wouldn't be surprised in the least. To encourage people to learn about your ideas, write about them constantly. Challenge people to learn new and wonderful ideas. If it can be imagined humans will eventually create it. Please remember if you write a book make an audio edition too. This is a great book and I recommend it 100%. Keep an open mind though.
Rating:
Summary: THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES, GORDO
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Space Cadet with out of this World Claims
Review: When I found out that Gordon Cooper had written a book about his experiences as an astronaut, I was excited, since most of the astronaut biographies were written by the more famous astronauts like Alan Shepard, Deke Slayton or John Glenn and not by the lesser known ones likes Gordon Cooper. I thought I'd get a different perspective, and boy was I right. After a brief introduction of his first Mercury flight, the book begins with Cooper's entry into the space program as one of the Mercury Seven and his training program. Eventually, it moves on to his first mission, the only Mercury mission (Faith 7) to last more than a day. This mission was full of many minor and major problems that were overcome in part due to Cooper's insistence of rigorous pre-flight training. When the book processes to his Gemini 5 mission, his spacecraft begins to experience some of the same problems as his first flight. Again, the mission is saved in part due to Cooper's insistence of rigorous pre-flight training. It was here that I felt the book started to take a fast, downward spiral. He makes the wild claim that his film was taken shortly after splashdown, because he took photos of Area 51. His film was taken by the DOD and then returned to NASA (see space.com). I guess he never visited NASA to look at his photographs. Furthermore, it has been shown his flight never passed over Area 51. At this point I knew the book could only get worse and after one brief shining moment it did. After the Gemini flight talks about his lost of an Apollo moon landing flight due to internal politics within the astronaut office with Deke Slayton and Alan Shepard which was a good confirmation of the many rumors regarding flight selection. Basically, he was bumped so that Alan Shepard could get a moon flight. Cooper then leaves NASA in disgust. Once he leaves NASA, most of the book deals with his experiences with the paranormal, UFOs, etc. It was like a bad X-files show. For example, he claims to have seen and touched a flying saucer, but yet he can't even produce a photograph. I found it extremely odd that a man who spent years in rigorous training for space travel and by his own claims it this training that helped save his missions would forget to document his experience, especially after the Area 51 experience. There are just so many wild, undocumented claims that the book suffers greatly. I would have given this book only one star, but it has a lot previously unpublished information on his flights and he has some nice things to say about his colleagues at NASA that saves the book from being a complete disaster.
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