Leap of Faith Gordon Cooper An Astronaut's Journey into the Unknown with Bruce Henderson is a good book with good pictures.Its an easy read. Read it in 2 days.

We see Gordon learning to fly his father's plane at a very young age. He had to use blocks to reach the controls. He solos very young and gets his private pilot license no problem. Later in life he give his mom many rides. She would just hop in. Gordo joins the Marines as a rifleman for a short stay,then goes back to school and later gets into the Air Force. He already knows how to fly so its not too hard learning for Gordo to be a US Air Force pilot. He flies many fast jets and becomes a test pilot at Edwards Air Force base.

Later Gordo gets confidential orders to report to the new agency NASA. He goes through the selection process and becomes one of the Mercury 7 astronauts. So much training and training.He goes up in the last Mercury flight and does a super job. Later he goes up in a Gemini spacecraft. Right before he has an argument with Williams the number 3 man in NASA. Gordo is pissed and buzzes NASA in a jet and Williams freaks out and almost grounds Gordo from going up but later gives the go ahead. In space there is a major problem with an almost dead spacecraft as systems are shutting down and Gordo must manually land the spacecraft. He does great and lands near the water pick up area. Almost bulls eye. Later Williams shakes his hand and says " You were the right person for the job".He gets a big ticker tape parade. He is a hero. He goes to the White House to see President LBJ and asks who classified detailed photos he took from his Gemini flight and why. LBJ says soberly "I did son". Much later Gordo learns why... he took excellent accidental photos of Top Secret Area 51.

Later we see Gordo is very bitter and mad with Deke the head astronaut and Al Shepard being cutthroat and pushing Gordon aside and not allowing him to go up in an Apollo flight. Just back up, backup, backup. He thinks he won't get another chance and retires from NASA. General Curtis Le May says Gordon may get a star (Brig. General) if he stays in the Air Force but regulations say a General can't fly a one seat jet. So Gordo retires from the Air Force as a Colonel.

Later Gordo talks about a UFO sighting he had flying a jet over Germany. Officially its explained as a weather balloon. Gordo says that's the first weather balloon I've ever seen with landing gear. He also talks about the Air Force Blue Book and UFO sightings. So far so good. I enjoy this and have an open mind. Then he talks about that we have actually been visited by intelligent ETs. OK the book is still great. I read Chariots of the Gods and still have an open mind.

Later we see Gordon in a company that discovers a 3000 year old site that predated the Mayans and Incas. He lets the authorities have the artifacts rather than his company plunder them. He states it was the legal and right thing to do. Gordon becomes a VP with Disney involved with advanced technology.

So far the book is fascinating and 5 star. Then the crapola starts. He meets Valerie Ransone who claims she gets mental communications with extraterrestrial life. Later Gordon meets a PHD scientist claiming to have taken a ride up in an alien spacecraft. Its gets even more unbelievable as Valerie says the aliens want to take Gordon up with the scientist again. Just before Cooper goes out to go up Valerie tells Cooper the aliens have had second thoughts.

I am sorry Gordon Cooper and Bruce Henderson I'm a hard science kind of guy. As an amateur astronomer of over 40 years I do believe that there is intelligent life out there. New Exoplanets are being discovered it seems monthly. There are millions of galaxies each holding billions of stars. The probability is that there MUST be other life out there. However INMO it may not look like us or even be carbon based. Who knows. At this time its too far out for me to believe that Valerie and others are getting metal communications from ETs. Show ANY proof of these mental communications. Sorry Gordon Cooper and Bruce Henderson you left me way out there in space with this one. 90% a 5 star book then very late rapid degradation to 3 1/2 to 4 stars. Gordon Cooper a great American hero with many wonderful accomplishments. I am sad Gordon Cooper passed away but at this time I can't believe in mental communications with ETs. Its too big a Leap of Faith for me.

This book is an easy read, and a very interesting one. It was hard to put down for me. I have a far greater appreciation for those who pursue the goal of being an astronaut, and those who make it are nothing short of miraculous. Gail

Leap of Faith: An Astronaut's Journey into the Unknown (Mass Market Paperback) was a great five star book by Gordon Cooper. In it he highlights his two fameous space flights during projects Mercury and Gemini and shares lots of interesting gossip about the manned space program. He also discusses his life story in general and an abundance of tales about his UFO experiences and much more. Some of the information he relates to his readers is questionable, but a tribute to Gordo's openmindedness.

This book is very interesting and entertaining. Gordon Cooper tells his story of being one of the first U.S. astronauts. I thought it was well written and the more I read it the more I didn't want to put it down. Cooper tells of his time in space, his time at N.A.S.A. and gives some insight into his life. He also explains the hard work and determination of all who were a part of the United States' effort to put a man in space and on the moon. As the book progresses he tells about a U.F.O. sighting he was involved in and also shares his opinions about U.F.O.s and extraterrestrials. I thought it was a wonderful book and worth reading for anyone interested in the U.S. space program.

When I was about twelve, I went through a space phase. I begged my mom to take me to the planetarium; I was going to be an astronaut; I knew about black holes and novae and dark matter; and, most importantly, I read books. I think I must have read just about every autobiography and biography written about the Mercury, Genesis, and Apollo astronauts. Unfortunately, this one was not one of the better ones.

Of course, you can't go into a book like this--co-written by a famous person and a real writer solely to make a profit--expecting to find brilliant writing. But this wasn't actually terrible. It did the job, and occasionally went beyond what was expected. Some parts of the story are actually very entertaining: backstage NASA politics, Alan Shepard's bitterness, the camraderie that developed amongst the Mercury 7, the process that goes into becoming an astronaut, etc. At one point, when describing the Apollo One tragedy, the book becomes very moving. There are a few points where I almost laughed, especially at the descriptions of Werner von Braun' antics.

However, once Cooper leaves the astronaut program, the story becomes quite dull, at least for me. If I wanted to know about someone's personal life, I'd read a celebrity gossip magazine. And some of Cooper's antics, like his interest in UFOs, are a bit strange. Overall, the weak writing and dull finish essentially cancel out any good that might be found elsewhere. I devoured this as a twelve year old, but for anyone more mature, it's not much worth the read.

As I said, I've read dozens of astronaut books, and if you are looking for a good memoir by an astronaut, I'd recommend Scott Carpenter's "For Spacious Skies" or Michael Collin's "Carrying the Fire." Michael Collins was the third astronaut on Apollo 11; he stayed on board the space craft while fellow astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. His descriptions of the loneliness and beauty of that moment go far beyond anything you might expect in this setting; and he simply has more to say. Jim Lovell's Apollo 13 is worth a read too, even if you've already seen the movie with Tom Hanks.

This isn't a review because I haven't read the book yet, but I want to say that I saw Gordon Cooper on a talk show in the 1970s or early 1980s, describing how he and other test pilots chased the lights emitted by these spacecraft and that it was common knowledge by NASA that these things existed. As he seemed to be a very intelligent, forthright and plain speaking person, I believed him. I just can't imagine why it took him so long to write a book. Did NASA keep him from talking?

This isn't a review because I haven't read the book yet, but I want to say that I saw Gordon Cooper on a talk show in the 1970s or early 1980s, describing how he and other test pilots chased the lights emitted by these spacecraft and that it was common knowledge by NASA that these things existed. As he seemed to be a very intelligent, forthright and plain speaking person, I believed him. I just can't imagine why it took him so long to write a book. Did NASA keep him from talking?

Over the past few years I have rediscovered my fascination with the 1960s space race by reading several books by or about people connected with NASA back in those glory days. After reading "Leap of Faith" I have now read biographies of all the Mercury Seven astronauts. The good news is that Gordon Cooper's book is easily one of the most interesting. The bad news is that I don't exactly mean that as a compliment.

For about two thirds of this book Cooper recounts his days with NASA and here he is, pardon the expression, on solid ground. The passages feel a bit rushed and his interpretation of events differ from other viewpoints you may have read, but he's Gordon Cooper and he's earned the right to have his say.

Unfortunately, the NASA days are only part of Cooper's life story and it's the remaining one third of the book where he drives himself into the ditch. I knew from other sources that Cooper firmly believes flying saucers have visited the Earth and our government has conspired to keep the truth from us. I don't believe this myself, but again, he's Gordon Cooper and he has earned my respect. I was willing to listen to what he had to say.

A few UFO stories would have been fine, but Cooper shoots himself in the foot and destroys whatever credibility he had when he recounts his relationship with Valerie Ransone who he met in the late 70s. Ransone claimed to receive telepathic messages from space aliens and wanted to use the knowledge she was gaining to start something called the Advanced Technology Group. Of course, this group needed some funding to get itself going.

Rarely, if ever, have I read a book before where something becomes painfully obvious to the reader but of which the author remains blissfully unaware. Ransone begins to use Cooper for his name and prestige to obtain money for what is nothing more than a huge scam. Cooper never seems to catch on. His viewpoint always seems to be "It might be true, therefore it is true."

The lowest point in this silliness comes when Ransone announces that the aliens are coming to Earth to give Cooper a ride in one of their saucers. Cooper, as gullible as can be, prepares for his expectant UFO flight just as he had for any of his NASA missions. It comes as absolutely no surprise, to anyone but Cooper I guess, when shortly before the flight the aliens are forced to cancel. Apparently there was a political squabble over this proposed flight back on the homeworld. Darn the luck.

One is left to wonder if Cooper really believed all this nonsense or if he was just including it as a way to make his book stand out and sell a few more copies. Either way, it's a pretty poor way for a true American hero to act.