This 60s-era NASA film “Flight of Faith 7” is a documentary about the final flight of Project Mercury. Faith 7 was launched May 15th, 1963 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The film follows astronaut Leroy Gordon Cooper Jr. as he prepares for and eventually carries out the 4th American manned orbital flight and proves how well man can function in space as well as the efficacy of humans as the primary component of space flight systems. Project Mercury’s launch was an international spectacle that was televised on screens throughout North America and Europe. National Aeronautics and Space Administration USA (NASA) (0:07). Close-up Project Mercury spacecraft (0:21). Spectators (0:31). CBS Norelco TV camera (0:37). Aerial camera above Cape Canaveral, Florida records Project Mercury launch (0:40). “The Flight of Faith 7” overlaid aerial shot (0:55). Astronaut undergoing tests in lab (1:19). Astronaut Leroy Gordon Cooper Jr. (1:40). Cooper in cockpit of US Air Force SuperSonic Jet (2:09). Engineers gathered (2:17). Astronauts experience weightlessness in c-131 aircraft (2:35). Cooper training on centrifuge and tumbling spacecraft (2:45). Space flight simulators equipment (3:06). Spacecraft buttons and gears dashboard (3:19). Cooper putting on Mercury Space Suit or Navy mark IV (3:33). Sensor for heartbeat and respiration rates (4:27). Single telemetry unit (5:06). Final test of astronaut suit (5:30). Cooper leaving astronaut preparation facility hangar (5:55). Faith 7 mated to Atlas Launch Vehicle at NASA gantry (6:11). Engineers working on spacecraft (6:12). Removal of periscope (6:28). New equipment being added (6:44). Components of the space vehicle (6:56). Engineers working on different materials (7:14). Undershot of Mercury Atlas 9 (7:18). Cooper entering the spacecraft (7:30). People on standby in Mercury Control Center (7:42). Emergency rescue forces setting out (7:45). Cooper entering MA-9 flight footage of crew inspecting spacecraft Bermuda Tracking Station (8:04). MA-9 spacecraft at dock (8:22). Control room (8:30). NASA employees and rescuers at tracking stations (8:47). MA-9 takeoff (9:48). Cooper inside launched rocket (10:13). Spaceship in sky (10:31). Ground station tracking spaceship (10:44). BECO (Booster Engine Cut Off) (11:09). Animation events beyond camera range (11:20). Sustainer engine driving Faith 7 (11:28). Posigrade rocket detached (11:34). SECO (Sustainer Engine Cut Off) (11:47). Cooper in spacecraft (12:01). Cooper using fly-by-wire control to direct spacecraft (12:08). Map Canary Islands, Spain (Canary Capcom Station) and Kano, Nigeria (12:38). Map Zanzibar, Tanzania (13:16). Recording flight using onboard tape recorder (13:31). Perigee over Bermuda and apogee over Australia (14:05). Map United States and Mexico Point Aguello and Guaymas (14:19). Slow-scan television camera (14:42). Flashing light experiment (15:35). Globe featuring Latin America, Greenland, Europe and Africa measuring radiation in space (16:15). Geiger counters (16:36). Tools to measure radiation inside chamber: pocket ion chamber or dosimeter, film patch, photographic emulsion pack, film patches (16:57). Packaged space food (17:54). Experimental photographic assignments of earth’s horizon/limb (18:32). Experiment with 35mm camera of two dim light phenomena: zodiacal light and earth night airglow layer (18:47). Infrared photography of earth for the Weather Bureau (19:22). Aerial shots of Atlas Mountains, Morocco, the Himalayas, and the Philippine Islands (19:40). Cooper saying prayer from space (20:43). Greetings to Summit Meeting of African Statesmen speaking to Zanzibar station just passed Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (21:23). Map of the US and Mexico showing orbits 15-18 (21:55). Cooper loses contact between Bermuda and Hawaii, 0.05 gravity light turns on (22:04). Damage control at Mercury Control Center among NASA and contractor engineers (23:06). Automatic stabilization and control systems (ASCS operating system) not operating (23:30). Retro fire and re-entry (24:22). Map showing Japan and Coastal Sentry Quebec location (24:29). USS Kearsarge (CV-33) heading to rescue point (24:38). Cooper contacts John Glenn on Coastal Sentry Quebec (25:02). Cooper reentering earth’s atmosphere (25:49). Cooper parachuting from sky (26:28). Post-flight analysis (27:34). Speech John F. Kennedy (28:10).

Gordo Cooper went on to fly in space as Command Pilot of Gemini 5 in 1965.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com