Posted: Mon, Oct 4, 2004, 9:33 PM ET (0133 GMT)
Gordon Cooper, one of NASA's original Mercury 7 astronauts, passed away Monday, the space agency announced. He was 77. Cooper flew the final Mercury flight in May of 1963, spending 34 hours in orbit. He also flew the Gemini 5 mission with Pete Conrad in August 1965, spending nearly eight days in orbit despite encountering a number of spacecraft problems. Cooper retired from NASA in 1970 and served as a consultant and later a vice president at Disney. He also gained some notoriety for believing in UFO phenomena.

Related Links:

•  Orlando Sentinel article
•  CNN article
•  AP article
•  NASA press release