[ America in Space ]

ma-9-patch.gif (3374 bytes)
Faith 7

Mission Number: MA-9 15-16 May 1963

Crew:
   
L. Gordon Cooper, Jr. [1]

Backup:
    Alan B. Shepard, Jr.

Launch:
    Pad: LC 14
    Date: 15 May 1963
    Time: 13:04:13 UTC

Flight:
    Orbits: 22.5
    Duration: 1 day, 10 hours, 19 minutes, 49 seconds
    Distance: 546,167 statute miles
    Velocity: 17,547 mph

Landing:
    Location: Pacific Ocean, 115 miles ESE Midway Island
    Vessel: USS Kearsarge (CVS-33)
    Date: 16 May 1963
    Time: 23:24:02 UTC

The longest and last of the Mercury missions. By the end of his 34 hours in orbit, nearly every onboard system had failed. Cooper performed a manual reentry.
Launch vehicle was an Atlas rocket.

ma9_splash.jpg (43142 bytes)
(Credit: NASA, click to enlarge)
MA-9 splashdown in the Pacific.

The MA-9 capsule is currently at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX.