March 6th was the birthday of Leroy Gordon “Gordo” Cooper Jr., (1927) in Shawnee Oklahoma. This U.S. Air Force pilot and astronaut, who was aboard Mercury 9 and Gemini 5, had his exploits well documented in Tom Wolfe’s book The Right Stuff [1], and in the well-done film of the same name [2]. Cooper died at age 77 from heart failure at his home in Ventura, California, on October 4, 2004.
Coincidentally, this is also the birthday of Valentina Tereshkova (born 1937), a Soviet cosmonaut and the first woman in space (aboard Vostok 6). She was born in Maslennikovo, USSR.