 L. Gordon Cooper, photographed by a slow-scan television camera aboard Faith 7 | |
| Mission type | Test flight |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 1963-015A |
| SATCAT no. | 576 |
| Mission duration | 34 hours, 19 minutes, 49 seconds |
| Distance travelled | 878,971 kilometers (474,606 nautical miles) |
| Orbits completed | 22 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Mercury No.20 |
| Manufacturer | McDonnell Aircraft |
| Launch mass | 1,360 kilograms (3,000 lb) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 1 |
| Members | |
| Callsign | Faith 7 |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | May 15, 1963, 13:04:13 UTC |
| Rocket | Atlas LV-3B 130-D |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral LC-14 |
| End of mission | |
| Recovered by | USS Kearsarge |
| Landing date | May 16, 1963, 23:24:02 UTC |
| Landing site | South-east of Midway Island, Pacific Ocean |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Perigee altitude | 163 kilometers (88 nautical miles) |
| Apogee altitude | 265 kilometers (143 nautical miles) |
| Inclination | 32.5 degrees |
| Period | 88.77 minutes |
| Epoch | May 15, 1963[1] |
 Leroy Gordon "Gordo" Cooper, Jr. Project Mercury Crewed missions | |
Mercury-Atlas 9 was the final crewed space mission of the U.S. Mercury program, launched on May 15, 1963, from Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The spacecraft, named Faith 7, completed 22 Earth orbits before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, piloted by astronaut Gordon Cooper, then a United States Air Force major. The Atlas rocket was No. 130-D, and the Mercury spacecraft was No. 20. As of November 2024, this mission marks the last time an American was launched alone to conduct an entirely solo orbital mission.