ENROLLED SENATE
RESOLUTION NO. 34	By:	Sharp, Brecheen, Aldridge, Allen, Anderson, Ballenger, Barrington, Bass, Bingman, Boggs, Branan, Brinkley, Brooks, Brown, Burrage, Coates, Crain, Dahm, David, Ellis, Fields, Ford, Garrison, Griffin, Halligan, Holt, Ivester, Johnson (Constance), Johnson (Rob), Jolley, Justice, Loveless, Marlatt, Mazzei, McAffrey, Newberry, Paddack, Schulz, Shaw, Shortey, Shumate, Simpson, Sparks, Standridge, Stanislawski, Sykes, Treat and Wyrick

A Resolution recognizing the life and accomplishments of Gordon Cooper; declaring May 15, 2013, as "Gordon Cooper Day" in Oklahoma; and directing distribution.

WHEREAS, Gordon Cooper was an American aeronautical engineer, test pilot and one of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, the first manned space program of the United States; and

WHEREAS, Leroy Gordon Cooper was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, on March 6, 1927, and grew up in the community; and

WHEREAS, in 1945, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps.  Then in 1948, after completing three years of coursework at the University of Ohio, Cooper received a U.S. Army Commission.  He then transferred his commission to the U.S. Air Force in 1949, and was placed on active duty and received flight training at Perrin Air Force Base in Texas and Williams Air Force Base in Arizona; and

WHEREAS, Cooper's first flight assignment came in 1950 at Landstuhl Air Base in West Germany where he flew F-84 Thunderjets and F-86 Sabres.  While in Germany he also attended the European Extension of the University of Maryland.  He then returned to the U.S. and completed his bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology in Ohio in 1957; and

WHEREAS, Cooper was then assigned to the Experimental Flight Test School at Edwards Air Force Base in California, and after graduation was posted to the Flight Test Engineering Division at Edwards, where he served as a test pilot and project manager testing the F-102A and F-106B.  Cooper logged more than 7,000 hours of flight time, with 4,000 hours in jet aircraft.  He flew all types of commercial and general aviation airplanes and helicopters; and

WHEREAS, while at Edwards, he went to Washington, D.C. for a NASA briefing on Project Mercury and was selected from 109 pilots to become the youngest of the first seven American astronauts; and

WHEREAS, Cooper was launched into space on May 15, 1963, aboard the Mercury-Atlas 9 (Faith 7) spacecraft, the last Mercury mission.  He orbited the Earth 22 times and logged more time in space than all five previous Mercury astronauts combined at just over 34 hours traveling 546,167 miles at 17,547 mph.  He was the first American astronaut to sleep not only in orbit but on the launch pad; and

WHEREAS, two years later, Cooper flew as command pilot of Gemini 5 on an eight-day, 120-orbit mission with Pete Conrad.  The two astronauts set a new space endurance record by traveling a distance of just over 3.3 million miles in nearly 191 hours, showing that astronauts could survive in space for the length of time necessary to go from the Earth to the Moon and back; and

WHEREAS, Cooper was the first astronaut to make a second orbital flight.  He later served as backup command pilot for Gemini 12 and Apollo 10 but was not selected as commander of Apollo 13; and

WHEREAS, having flown 222 hours in space, Colonel Cooper retired from NASA and the Air Force in July 1970.  After leaving NASA, he served on several corporate boards and as technical consultant for several companies in fields ranging from high performance boat design to energy, construction, and aircraft design; and

WHEREAS, Cooper received an honorary doctorate of science from Oklahoma State University in 1967.  He also received many awards including, among others, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf clusters, the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal, the Collier Trophy, the Harmon Trophy and the John F. Kennedy Trophy; and

WHEREAS, Shawnee named its Career Technology Center and Highway 18 between Shawnee and Tecumseh after Cooper, who passed away on October 4, 2004, at the age of 77; and

WHEREAS, May 15, 2013, marks the 50th anniversary of Cooper's spaceflight.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE 1ST SESSION OF THE 54TH OKLAHOMA LEGISLATURE:

THAT the Oklahoma Senate recognizes the life and many accomplishments of Oklahoma's son, Gordon Cooper.

THAT the Oklahoma Senate declares May 15, 2013, as "Gordon Cooper Day" in Oklahoma.

THAT a copy of this resolution be distributed to Shawnee mayor, Wes Mainord.

Adopted by the Senate the 15th day of May, 2013.

	
	Presiding Officer of the Senate

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
Received by the Office of the Secretary of State this __________ day of __________________, 20 _______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________