Astronaut Keeps A Secret About Space For Nearly 50 Years

astronaut keeps a secret about space for nearly 50 years but before we start please make sure to subscribe to did you know and hit the bell so you never miss an upload from us also leave a like right now even before the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union turned into a full sprint space exploration was providing us with loads of new information about the universe yet there was one astronaut who discovered something so big he didn't want to share it while on a mission sponsored by NASA astronaut Gordon Cooper was tasked with gathering valuable insight into the workings of our galaxy only while orbiting the planet he observed something on Earth's surface something that he would keep a secret for nearly five decades recently however that secret was exposed for all the world to see when Gordon Cooper of Oklahoma was about seven years old his dad an army colonel allowed him to ride along in his airplane and briefly let the young boy take the controls this simple act would spark Cooper's lifelong fascination with flying before he turned 32 Cooper had served in the Marines the Air Force and as a test pilot on Edwards Air Force Base there he suggested industry-changing improvements to the f-106 b delta dart jet fighter then he received an unbelievable offer it was 1959 when NASA invited Cooper to Washington DC as a potential candidate for the mercury project the project sought to put a man into Earth's orbit and then return him safely and Cooper was an ideal candidate after placing him on a shortlist of 109 potential candidates NASA selected Cooper as one of seven men for the program in May 1963 he conducted his first mission aboard the faith 7 a craft so small it could only fit someone under 5 feet 11 inches tall the instructions NASA gave the enthusiastic Oklahoman were simple going to space Solo survived and studies zero gravities prolonged effects on the human body at least this was the mission as far as the public was concerned the project started out arousing success from May 15 to 16 for just about 34 hours Cooper orbited earth becoming the first astronaut to sleep in space but then in the midst of this enormous accomplishment disaster nearly struck as the faith 7 returned to Earth the automatic piloting system malfunctioned experienced flyer that he was Cooper didn't panic instead he grabbed the controls and maneuvered the spacecraft into a perfect landing on a waiting aircraft carrier his mission was complete or was it though the public didn't know at the time Cooper's mission also involved taking pictures man all I do is take pictures pictures pictures he said in a message to ground control I'm up to 5,000 245 now but he wasn't just looking for eye-catching images Cooper's camera was actually equipped to detect magnetic aberrations along the Earth's surface this allowed him to secretly look for Soviet nuclear bases or submarines off the coast of the United States and boy did he uncover some I openin stuff in the process of searching for secret nuclear bases Cooper also detected hundreds of anomalies near the Caribbean which he carefully charted in his small faith 7 spacecraft these aberrations he noticed weren't big enough to be nuclear sites not by a longshot what were they Cooper wasn't sure what he'd spotted from space but he had a few ideas and they required further research for an unknown reason he never told NASA or the Defense Department about these strange anomalies he decided to embark on his own personal mission once safely back on earth Cooper started investigating his findings the anomalies he saw all seemed bunched around old trading routes that had been highly trafficked by Spanish ships surely this was more than a coincidence Cooper quickly made the connection from the shipping routes to possible shipwrecks and he researched everything he could regarding centuries-old shipwrecks eventually he felt confident that he had in fact charted some of them from space what did this all mean the world would have to wait to find out he had a long and successful career including a mission on the Gemini 5 during which he spent 190 hours in space still Cooper never had the time to truly explore his findings then as he grew older time started running out afflicted with Parkinson's and nearly the end of his days Cooper didn't want his secret discovery to be for naught so he phoned his friend Darryl miklós an explorer who had experienced hunting for rocket ship debris Miklos would be able to investigate on Cooper's behalf Cooper passed away in 2004 by then his map was safely in his friends possession at long last it was time for miklós to investigate what Gordon Cooper had seen from space all those decades ago was there any truth to it I believe Gordon 100% miklós told Parade magazine I didn't need proof neither did the Discovery Channel which along with miklós created Cooper's treasure a 20-17 TV show that documented the investigation so what did they find on one journey Miklos and his crew traveled to a spot on Cooper's map looking for evidence of a shipwreck with the help of deep-sea diving gear they surveyed the ocean floor hoping for a sign sure enough the crew uncovered a massive anchor they hauled it to their deck and soon after they realized that it was from the era of Christopher Columbus this made it an extremely valuable artifact from the past by mid 2017 Miklos and his crew had searched five spots on Cooper's map and at all five they found evidence of a shipwreck with hundreds of more points left to explore what other treasures might be waiting for miklós to uncover miklós plan to visit the rest of the locations but it would take time still as he told newsweek I hear Gordon all the time in the back of my head you're on the right trail and it sure looked that way regardless of whether miklós would be able to spend the next few decades searching for his friends discoveries remains to be seen still you know that Gordon Cooper the Oklahoma boy who reached the Stars would be happy to see his secret finally paid off Gordon Cooper may have been a lifelong teller of tall tales but it looked like his shipwreck map really panned out what an incredible story share this story with your friends below you

Channel: Did You Know ?

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Keywords: Did You Know, Astronaut, Keeps, A Secret, About, Space, For, Nearly, 50 Years, Even, before, the space, race, between, the, United States, and, Soviet, Union, turned, into, full, sprint, space, exploration, was, providing, us, with, loads, of, new, information, about, universe, Yet, there, one, astronaut, who, discovered, something, so, big, he, didn’t, want, to, share, it.

Id: JLziwWE47uI

Length: 7min 25sec (445 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 14 2019