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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.
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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.
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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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Summary: This book will inspire as well as challenge our thinking!
Review: You are in for a wonderful treat with Leap of Faith! The sagas of courage and perserverance which surrounded the birth of America's space program are recounted in intimate detail by one who was actually there, and they are as inspirational as they are fascinating. This book may well come to be regarded as an important historical document, and it will be read with as much interest 200 years from now as it is today. This book will also challenge those readers who are without firsthand experiences with craft or visitors from off-world. Mr. Cooper has taken a great leap of faith against the prevailing consensus psychology which surrounds the subjects of UFO's and extraterrestrial intelligences, as he recounts his own personal observations as a highly trained military jet pilot, scientist and astronaut. It remains a pity that such a small handfull of the immense number of heros, statesmen and political elite that Gordon Cooper has had intimate dealings with over the years have not yet found the courage to come forward to endorse this significant work. After all, courage is what is at the heart of America, and courage is what this book really all about. Much applause goes to Gordon Cooper and Bruce Henderson for their collaboration in producing Leap of Faith. It is something that I know will be read over and over again. Dare I say "encore!" ?
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