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in april of 1959

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air force colonel gordon cooper was

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selected as one of the original mercury

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seven astronauts

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roger has a lift off and the clock is

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operating on may 15 1963

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cooper launched from cape canaveral atop

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a mercury atlas rocket for the sixth and

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final flight of project mercury

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in his faith 7 spacecraft cooper orbited

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the earth 22 times making his flight the

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longest of the mercury mission

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this 34-hour journey allowed him to be

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the first astronaut to sleep in space

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near the end of the mission the

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spacecraft experienced a power failure

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taking the controls manually

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cooper re-entered phase seven into the

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atmosphere on may 16

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and classed down right on target in the

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pacific

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bringing project mercury to a close

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nasa celebrates the 50th anniversary of