Gordon Cooper commanded the final Mercury mission, piloting Faith 7 in 1963 on a 22-orbit flight that made him the first American to spend a full day in space and the last to fly a solo orbital mission. Two years later, as commander of Gemini 5, he set an endurance record with an eight-day flight that demonstrated humans could survive a round-trip to the Moon. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, Cooper brought a test pilot’s skill to missions that bridged early experimentation and the realities of lunar travel.