Mercury-Atlas 9 was the final manned spaceflight of the United States’ Mercury program. It carried the Faith 7 spacecraft with astronaut Gordon Cooper to orbit where it completed 22 orbits seconds before reentry. The mission lasted for, 34 hours, 19 minutes & 49 seconds. This was the last time an American was launched to space on a solo orbital mission. The mission had several technical problems, the biggest which was a short-circuit in the bus bar serving the 250 volt main inverter causing the automatic stabilization and control system to stop working during the 21st orbit. In the end Cooper had to use lines he had drawn on the window and his wristwatch to correctly execute burns to safely re-enter the atmosphere.
Launch Overview
Window Open
13:04 UTC
Window Close
13:04 UTC
Lift Off
May 15, 1963 · 13:04 UTC
Launch Facility
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Launch Pad
Space Launch Complex 14
Target Orbit
Low Earth Orbit
Payload Overview
Customer
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mercury-Atlas 9 was the final manned spaceflight of the United States’ Mercury program. It carried the Faith 7 spacecraft with astronaut Gordon Cooper to orbit where it completed 22 orbits seconds before reentry. The mission lasted for, 34 hours, 19 minutes & 49 seconds. This was the last time an American was launched to space on a solo orbital mission. The mission had several technical problems, the biggest which was a short-circuit in the bus bar serving the 250 volt main inverter causing the automatic stabilization and control system to stop working during the 21st orbit. In the end Cooper had to use lines he had drawn on the window and his wristwatch to correctly execute burns to safely re-enter the atmosphere.
Height
LEO Payload
Total Launches
Status
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Space Launch Complex 14
Launch Overview
Window Open
13:04 UTC
Window Close
13:04 UTC
Lift Off
May 15, 1963 · 13:04 UTC
Launch Facility
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Launch Pad
Space Launch Complex 14
Target Orbit
Low Earth Orbit
Payload Overview
Customer
National Aeronautics and Space Administration