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  Gemini 5: Questar and Gordon Cooper

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Author Topic:   Gemini 5: Questar and Gordon Cooper
Gordon Reade
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Posts: 334
From: USA
Registered: Nov 2002

posted 07-28-2009 12:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Gordon Reade     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I’m writing an article about the Questar Telescope and in the process I’m collecting some trivia about. Clearly the most outrageous claim about its capabilities was in Gordo’s autobiography when he wrote that he used it to photograph the license plates of cars from orbit.

This may be a silly question but dose anyone know if Gordo actually wrote “Leap of Faith” or was it written by a ghost? If it was written by a ghost did he read it? Let’s be real. His autobiography is more than a little odd. What’s the story behind the book?

Robert Pearlman
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Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 07-28-2009 01:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
As the cover of "Leap of Faith" attests, it was written "with Bruce Henderson".

When I interviewed Cooper in July 2000, he told me that that he provided stacks of his papers to Henderson to sort through and organize, and then select from for the book. Cooper said he reviewed the material Henderson selected for "Faith" and it was as he remembered it.

After the book was published, Jim Oberg took the claims to task, debunking them in several articles (example: Area 51 and Gordon Cooper's 'Confiscated Camera'). He tried to get a response from Cooper but had to settle for one from his agent.

dtemple
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Posts: 730
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 07-28-2009 05:44 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for dtemple   Click Here to Email dtemple     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
As I recall in a much earlier thread there was some implication that Cooper found he had not been well-served by Henderson and/or the publisher, but was stuck with what was written due to contractual obligations. This was not said in so many words, but implied. Perhaps my memory serves me wrong. I just don't believe Cooper actually believed he was associated with someone who received messages from beings residing in the Pleiades star cluster.

Gordon Reade
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Posts: 334
From: USA
Registered: Nov 2002

posted 07-28-2009 07:08 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Gordon Reade     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I read that Gordo developed Parkinson's disease. Most people associate PD with tremors and dystonia, but up to 40% of suffers also develop dementia.

It's possible that Gordo wasn't well when his book was published. I think we need to cut Cooper some slack and remember him for his many accomplishments rather than his autobiography.

LCDR Scott Schneeweis
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posted 07-28-2009 07:46 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LCDR Scott Schneeweis   Click Here to Email LCDR Scott Schneeweis     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Definitely outrageous. Based on the assumption Cooper was attempting to view an object at perigee (closest point of approach during his orbit was 100 miles), and assuming he was looking directly down with an instrument performing to the Dawes limit, a 7 inch Questar, focal length 2400 mm, with highest magnification eyepiece available at the time (6mm Brandon @ apparent field of 45 degrees) the telescope would have a theoretically optimum resolution of .65 arc seconds. At 100 miles above the viewed object, this would yield a best linear resolution of 95 feet! (If he opted to take the smaller 3.5 inch Questar best resolution would be 190 feet)...

All times are CT (US)

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