[laughs]
- That's good.
I like this moustache.
Hi.
My name is Laura--
My name is Laura Steinel.
And today we're talking about
Gordon Cooper.
 The year is 1963.
 Gordon Cooper, he's this
 military test pilot
 from Oklahoma.
 NASA had just begun.
 And so, he was
 one of seven astronauts
 chosen for Project Mercury.
Also, really chill.
 He was like,
 Please, call me Gordo.
 Don't call me Gordon.
 I'm not that official.
Right? And so, all these
space missions go off
without a hitch,
and NASA's like,
We've done really well.
Congrats, NASA.
 And they're patting themselves
 on the back.
 And Gordo's like,
 Guys, I totally get it.
 Like, that's really cool,
 like, pats on the back.
 But if you want
 to send a man to the moon,
 you should maybe
 see if someone could
 be in space for,
 I don't know, 24 hours.
 And NASA's like,
 Ugh, yeah I guess, Gus.
 Yeah, sure, Gus.
 - Gordo.
 - Oh, [bleep], sorry.
I'm an idiot.
 - That's okay.
 - All right, all right.
 - You're fine.
 - So, Gordo goes on
 the launch pad.
 NASA'd be like,
Hey, just like, really quick...
 Like, don't touch anything.
 NASA would completely control
 everything.
It was so bad that
the astronauts felt like, um,
spam in a can.
- [chuckles]
- Is what they referred
to themselves as.
 So, anyway, he launches
 into space and it's like,
 Three, two, one, blast off.
 [mimics rocket firing]
Are you shooting that...
Okay, good.
 He gets up into space
 and everything's cool.
 He's like,
I'm orbiting the [bleep] Earth.
 Oh, I'm sorry, I wa--
 - You can swear.
 - No, my mom--
 I try not--
 I'm not--
 I'm gonna try not to swear.
So, he's in space.
 He sends back the first TV
 images of a human,
 back to Earth.
 He has a little
 powdered roast beef dinner.
 He's just having a ball.
So, he takes a nap.
 The first guy to ever sleep
 in space.
 He wakes up and he's like,
 It's good to be Gordo.
 And then, he's like,
 Oh, [bleep], no, it's not.
 Because...beep, beep.
 Oh...[bleep].
 I have
 no stabilization unit.
 Everyone in Mission Control
 is freaking out.
 They're like,
 Oh, God.
 This doesn't look good.
 And Gus Grissom is like,
 Bro, I love you.
 I'm gonna tell your wife
 you're a hero.
 Gordo's like,
 No, stop it.
 I'm gonna take control
 over the spaceship.
 Gus is like, You're
about to do something none of--
 no one has ever done before.
And Gordo's like,
Yeah, no, I know.
 So, just shut
 the [bleep] up, Gus.
 I've got control.
 He starts to take over
 manual control.
 But, at that moment, he loses
 radio signal with Gus Grissom.
 And so, he gets a radio signal
 over to his friend John Glenn,
 who's on the recovery boat
 over in Japan.
 Then he's like,
 John Glenn, hey.
 It's me, Gordo.
 Um, I have absolutely no power
 in my spacecraft.
 And I just wanna get back home
because I'm a really chill guy.
 It's me, Gordo.
 And he's like, Okay,
 here's what we're gonna do.
 And so, together they go
 through this checklist.
 Uh, put this thing up.
 Like, press this button.
 There's all these things
 he needs to do.
 But then Gordo's like,
 Oh, [bleep].
Beep. And his carbon dioxide
meter's going off.
And it's like,
Beep, beep, you're [bleep].
 And he's like,
 Oh, my God, you're right.
 I'm totally [bleep] [bleep].
 But I--no, but he's chiller
 than that.
No, hold on.
He's way calmer than that.
 John Glenn, look,
 my carbon dioxide meter's
 going off and, uh...
 It's like 100 degrees
 in my cabin.
Which means
he's [bleep] dying.
But he's not being
a Debbie Downer about it.
 And he's like,
 I need to get to Earth.
 But, like, manual reentry
 had never been done before.
So, if he enters the
Earth's atmosphere too steep,
he's gonna blow up.
 So, he says, Okay.
 There's the Big Dipper.
 There's the Little Dipper.
 Gemini...
He draws an axis
on the window
and uses the constellations
as his constant.
 And he says,
 This is going to be my angle
 at which I can enter
 Earth's atmosphere.
 Which I think is...
 pretty incredible.
 So, John Glenn is like,
 Okay.
 Ten, nine, eight, seven, six--
 Gordo's like, Let's just,
 like, do it, I'm ready.
So, he fires, uh...
[grunts]
 Uh, what does this mean?
[laughs]
- [chuckling]
- What's it called when there's
fire coming out of stuff?
What--when it's like a fire...
[groans]
[laughs]
 He fires the rockets.
 [mimics rocket blast]
 He had a $5 wristwatch,
 and that's what he used
 to figure out how long
 to fire his rockets.
 [mimics rocket blast]
 Gordo is like, I'm entering
 Earth's atmosphere!
 [bleep] bravo to me!
 - Wait.
 Oh.
[both laugh]
 - And he splashes down.
 And he has the most accurate
 splash-down, ever,
 in...NASA history.
 He's like, so chill.
 He's like,
 Hey, guys, I made it.
 I'm not surprised.
 It's me, Gordo.
 Big whoop.
 Gordo changed the game.
- Great.
- He had a $5 wristwatch.
