Leap of Faith: An Astronaut's Journey Into the Unknown

Leroy Gordon “Gordo” Cooper Jr. (1927–2004) was an aerospace engineer and air force pilot who became one of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, the United States’ first manned space program. In 1963 he piloted the final Mercury spaceflight and was the last American to fly an entirely solo orbital mission. Two years later Cooper served as command pilot of Gemini 5 on an eight-day mission alongside astronaut Pete Conrad. In 1970, having flown 222 hours in space, he retired from NASA and the air force at the rank of colonel.

After leaving NASA, Cooper served on numerous corporate boards and was a technical consultant in such fields as high-performance boat design, construction, and energy. He also worked for the Walt Disney Company as vice president of research and development for Epcot. His hobbies included deep-sea salvaging and designing aircraft inspired by the UFOs he observed and studied during his career as a pilot and astronaut.
 
Bruce Henderson is the author of more than twenty nonfiction books, which have been published in a dozen countries. His #1 New YorkTimes bestseller And the Sea Will Tell was made into a television miniseries. Among his other books are Sons and Soldiers: The Unknown Story of the Jews Who Escaped the Nazis and Returned with the U.S. Army to Fight Hitler; Hero Found: The Greatest POW Escape of the Vietnam War; and Trace Evidence: The Hunt for the I-5 Serial Killer.

A former newspaper reporter, magazine editor, private investigator, and field producer for television news, Henderson has taught reporting and writing courses at Stanford University and USC School of Journalism. He lives outside San Francisco, California.