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Author
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Topic: Gordon Cooper wearing an Apollo spacesuit
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NASAROB
Member Posts: 38
From: Astoria NY
Registered: Feb 2009
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posted 09-26-2010 10:21 AM
  
Is there a good photo of Gordon Cooper in the Apollo white spacesuit? I know an official WSS portrait was never taken. There should be a decent picture of him during training as backup commander of Apollo 10. |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 2915
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 09-26-2010 10:57 AM
Yes, there is one of Cooper in a LM simulator or mockup of somekind. Mine is signed by him and inscribed, "Apollo 10 Backup Commander." |
ambrous
Member Posts: 13
From: indianapolis, in
Registered: Feb 2008
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posted 09-26-2010 11:06 AM
Photo: Astronaut Archives |
Tykeanaut
Member Posts: 2212
From: Worcestershire, England, UK.
Registered: Apr 2008
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posted 09-26-2010 12:18 PM
He should have had an Apollo mission! |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4167
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 09-26-2010 02:38 PM
I recently spoke with an employee of NASA closely involved with Apollo X. I asked him, in connection with Gordo's "retirement", whether he thought he jumped or was pushed from his rotation as commander of a moon landing. "Oh he was definately pushed, no doubt about that" came the response. |
ejectr
Member Posts: 1751
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 09-26-2010 03:48 PM
I think that with Gus gone and Al out of it at the moment because of his miniere's disease...there was no way Deke or Al wanted to see Gordo as THE one of the seven to walk on the moon. Think of it, the last one of the 7 to fly and the only one to make it to the moon!Case of professional jealousy, I'd say. |
capoetc
Member Posts: 2169
From: McKinney TX (USA)
Registered: Aug 2005
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posted 09-26-2010 07:03 PM
As backup CDR for Apollo X, Cooper would have been in line to command Apollo XIII... this was an assignment he was expecting to be given, particularly because of the pecking order since he was a Mercury guy.Once Shepard got back on flight status, he lobbied hard to get the next available mission which was -- Apollo XIII. He bumped Gordo out of the rotation. When NASA decided Shepard's crew needed more training time, Lovell's Apollo XIV crew was moved up to prime crew on Apollo XIII. So, theoretically, if Shepard had not gotten back on flight status, Gordo might have been the one who had to deal with the Apollo XIII crisis. |
Delta7
Member Posts: 1505
From: Bluffton IN USA
Registered: Oct 2007
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posted 09-26-2010 11:15 PM
Cooper seemed to have shot his wad with his dedication to training, or lack thereof. I get the impression he didn't believe in simulators or playing by NASA management's rules. He was a "kick the tires and light the fires" kind of pilot, pure and simple. Supposedly when asked about his knowledge of CM and LM systems, his reply was "That's what I have a CMP and LMP for!" His attitude summed up was apparently "Give me an opportunity to fly any spacecraft, and I'll land it on the sun if that's what you want!" And he was probably right. Unfortunately, NASA had evolved into a bureaucracy with specific and rigid requirements, and that just didn't fit the style of someone like Cooper. He probably could have landed on the moon blindfolded with one arm tied behind his back, but NASA required a certain regimen in order to do that. Cooper didn't buy in to that. As a result, he was shuttered aside. He WAS a good trooper, serving in two backup positions in a row (Gemini 12 and Apollo 10), with an obscure administrative post in between (head of the Apollo Applications branch of the Astronaut Office). I don't imagine any one of the other Original Seven astronauts would have put up with that. When Deke asked, he said yes. Apparently, however, that wasn't good enough. The "Tiddly Winks" comment was what ultimately screwed his chances of walking on the moon, but I suspect certain powers-that-be already had it out against him. That just gave them the excuse they needed. |
ColinBurgess
Member Posts: 2031
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted 09-27-2010 04:25 AM
If you have access to a copy of "In the Shadow of the Moon," Gordon Cooper gave us his first-hand recollections on this subject, on pages 50-54 and 233-234. |
garymilgrom
Member Posts: 1966
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 09-27-2010 02:22 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Delta7:
He probably could have landed on the moon blindfolded with one arm tied behind his back
I believe the above remark was made cynically and this is not a flame. As is well documented in the book Digital Apollo, there was no way to land the LM on the moon without computer help. No matter what mode the computer was in there was some kind of intervention between pilot input and vehicle reaction. While some may have derided this early fly by wire system, this intervention is seen today as a necessary precursor to high performance flight control. Many of "the right stuff" school, like Gordo, imagined they could fly a Saturn V off the pad and land on the moon unassisted, but the truth was different. I think it was this attitude toward flight control that weakened his position in the flight rotation. Of course it's also this attitude that makes him (and others) so endearing to us decades after the fact. |
Delta7
Member Posts: 1505
From: Bluffton IN USA
Registered: Oct 2007
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posted 09-27-2010 03:12 PM
It's an expression, meant to convey the belief that Cooper was a darn good pilot and in possession of the skills necessary to land on the moon, and not to ascertain that he or anyone could actually pull it off blindfolded and/or with only one arm. 
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ejectr
Member Posts: 1751
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 09-27-2010 07:53 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Delta7:
It's an expression...
You know, like "Don't you worry sweetie...if they could get a washing machine to fly, my Jimmie could land it." |
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