Memorial Service to be held October 15 at Johnson Space Center

NASA will honor the life and pioneering achievements of original Mercury astronaut Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr. (Colonel, USAF, Ret.) during a memorial service at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 15, at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston (TX).

NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, long-time associates and family friends will pay tribute to Cooper. He was 77 when he passed away at his home in Ventura (CA). Cooper was one of the first seven U.S. astronauts. He flew the sixth and final flight of Project Mercury in May 1963. Cooper also flew the third flight of the Gemini Program with Charles (Pete) Conrad, Jr. in August 1965.

Due to limited seating, the general public is invited to watch the service on NASA TV and the agency's homepage on the Web at NASA's website. The memorial service will take place in JSC's Teague Auditorium. A tree-planting ceremony will follow at the nearby Memorial Tree Grove.

NASA TV is available in the continental U.S. on AMC-6, Transponder 9C, C-Band, located at 72 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz. In Alaska and Hawaii, NASA Television is available on AMC-7, Transponder 18C, C-Band, located at 137 degrees west longitude. Frequency is 4060.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz.

FMI: www.nasa.gov, www.nasa.gov/vision/space/features/cooper_obit.html