1.
GV PAN...COOPER AND WIFE IN OPEN CAR (NATURAL SOUND-SIGNING AND CHEERING CROWDS)
0.10

2.
LV PAN... DITTO TO SIGN "WELCOME HOME COOP."
0.21

3.
LV INT. PRESS CONFERENCE (SILENT).
0.30

4.
CU COOPER MAKES STATEMENT (SOF STARTS.. "THIS IS A PUBLIC PROGRAMME.....
0.42

5.
LV COOPER ON DAIS (SILENT SCENE)
0.45

6.
SCU COOPER DESCRIBING PARTS OF SPACE FLIGHT. (SOF STARTS... "IN FIVE HOURS AND .... SOF CUT.... I FELT MORE AT HOME".
2.49

7.
SV AUDIENCE - NATURAL SOUND-LAUGHTER.
2.52

8.
CU COOPER CONTINUES... (SOF START..." PROCEEDED TO RAMP MYSELF.........
2.59

9.
SV AUDIENCE
3.00

10.
CU COOPER. SOF START... "I NOTED THE FIREBALL........SOF OUT.. VERY CLOSE I THOUGHT".
3.09

11.
LV PRESS CONFERENCE.
3.14

12.
CU COOPER "THE MOMENT THE HATCH WAS BLOWN.. SOF OUT.... THAN I AM RIGHT NOW".
3.43

13.
SV MAN ASKS QUESTIONS (USE THIS SCENE SILENT)
3.56

14.
CU COOPER ANSWERS QUESTIONS. (SOF STARTS... "IT REALLY SURPRISED BE TOO....SOF OUT... CREATING A WAKE BEHIND IT".
4.49

15.
SCU MAN ASKING QUESTION.
5.00

16.
SCU COOPER ANSWERS. SOF START.." JUST THE WAY IT LOOKS ON THE MAP...SOF OUT... FLYING OVER".
5.17


TRANSCRIPT: SEQ. 4: MAJOR COOPER: "THIS IS THE PUBLIC PROGRAMME, PEACEFUL SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME, AND WE ALSO ENDEAVOUR TO TRY AND MAKE IT COMPLETELY AVAILABLE TO COME ONE - COME ALL, AND ALL THE INFORMATION.



IN FIVE HOURS AND 20 MINUTES I OBSERVED THIS LIGHT COMING UP FROM BELOW ME ON THE GROUND, THE EARTH HAS DARK IN THE BACKGROUND, I COULD SEE THE HORIZON WITH THE HAZE LAYER ABOVE IT, AND THE STARS ABOVE THIS, AND THE EARTH WAS QUITE DARK AND I OBSERVED THIS LIGHT. I THOUGHT SOMEONE WAS LAUNCHING SOMETHING OUT IN FRONT OF ME, THAT'S WHAT IT REALLY LOOKED LIKE AT FIRST. I DIDN'T THINK THEY'D DO THAT.



IN THE SLEEP, WHEN I WOULD WAKE UP, I DISCOVERED MY ARMS FLOATING OUT HERE IN FRONT OF ME, RATHER DISTRACTING, PARTICULARLY WITH LOTS OF SWITCHES UP THIRD. I DIDN'T WANT TO PULL THROUGH TOO MANY OF THEE SWITCHES ALTHOUGH I HAD EVERYTHING ALWAYS POWERED DOWN AND POWER COMPLETELY OFF. STILL, SEEMS LIE YOU SHOULDN'T SLEEP WITH YOUR ARMS HANGING OUT THERE THAT WAY SEEMS LIKE AN ODD EXERTION. SO I FINALLY ARRIVE AND I'D FOLD MY HANDS AND STICK MY THUMB ???N AROUND BEHIND MY HELMET RESTRAINT STRAPS, AND IT FELT LITTLE MORE COMFORTABLE, THAT WAY. GOT MORE AT HOME WITH MYSELF.



COOPER: AND PROCEED TO RAMP MYSELF DOWN OF HE LAST NIGHTSIDE AND GET IN THE PROPER ATTITUDE FOR RETRO FIRE. CAME OUT INTO THE FIRST LIGHT OF THE TWENTY-SECOND ORBIT AND JOHN GLENN COUNTED DOWN THE RETRO-FIRE, AND USING THE EARTH AS THE ATTITUDE REFERENCE, AND MY SMALL LITTLE RAY INDICATORS FOR RAY, I HAD EVERYTHING ALL SET. ON THE ZERO COUNT PUNCHED THE RETROS AND THEY FIRED WITH A GOOD STRONG THUMP. AND I GUESS I HELD THEM FAIRLY CLOSE ON BECAUSE WE HIT PRETTY CLOSE THERE.



AND THEN WE INTENDING TO USE FLY-BY-WIRE FOR RE-ENTRY, HOWEVER I DID NOT QUITE LIKE THE SLOWNESS THAT THE FLY-BY-WIRE BIG THRUSTERS LIT-OFF AS I'VE STATED PREVIOUSLY, ITS PERHAPS MY FAULT FOR NOT RUNNING THEM THROUGH A LITTLE BIT MORE EARLIER. BUT I WAS SOMEWHAT BUSY MAKING SURE I WAS INTO RETRO ATTITUDE. AND SO I SWITCHED OVER TO DUEL AUTHORITY USING THE MANUAL PROPORTIONAL TO BACK UP MY FLY-BY-WIRES AND THEN RAN THE RE-ENTRY.



COOPER: I NOTED THE FIREBALL THAT JOHN GLENN HAD DESCRIBED OSCILLATING TO THE REAR OF THE SPACECRAFT AND FAIRLY CLOSE I THOUGHT. AND THERE RIGHT AT THE MOMENT THE HATCH WAS BLOWN, TAKING THESE BLOOD PRESSURES AND ASSISTING ME OUT. I STEPPED OUT OF THE HATCH, I FELT FINE, I FELT LIKE I HAD PUT IN A FULL DAY'S WORK, BUT I WAS NOT, REAL OVERLY TIRED. I WAS WARM FROM THE RE-ENTRY, AND HAVING BEEN IN THE WATER FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, BUT I MIGHT ADD, NOT ANY WARMER THAN I AM RIGHT NOW."



QUESTION: "THERE A DOCTOR BALLAD, THE PRESIDENT OF THE OPTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA, WHO SAYS THAT THE RESOLUTION POWER OF HE HUMAN EYE IS SUCH, THAT YOU COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING SMALLER THAN 200 FEET AT THE ALTITUDE. WILL YOU JUST STRAIGHTEN IT OUT FOR US?"



COOPER: "WELL, IT REALLY SURPRISES ME TOO BILL. I DIDN'T REALLY ANTICIPATE BEING ABLE TO SEE SUCH GREAT DETAIL. THE FIRST THAT I NOTED WAS COMING OVER THE ARABIAN HIGH PENINSULAR AREA, ON IN TO INDIA, SHORT OF THE HIMALAYAS, I NOTED THAT I SAW IN THE VISUAL ROADS AND RIVERS - THAT WAS THE FIRST THING I NOTED. AND THEN I SAY SOME LITTLE VILLAGES, INDIVIDUAL VILLAGES, AND I NOTED THAT WHERE THE HOUSES WERE SCATTERED OUT I COULD ACTUALLY SEE INDIVIDUAL HOUSES. I SAW ALSO, AT ABOUT THIS MOMENT, I SAW SOME TRUCKS ON THE ROAD AND NOT TOO VERY LONG AFTER THAT A TRAIN WITH SMOKE COMING OUT OF IT GOING DOWN A TRACK. I CAN'T REMEMBER EXACTLY HOW LONG, SO I'M NOT - I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT AREA IT WAS IN. AND IN ANOTHER AREA I SAW A BOAT GOING DOWN A RIVER, CREATING A WAKE BEHIND IT."



QUESTION: "IF YOU WERE AWAKE DURING THE NINTH AND TENTH ORBITS, WHICH WAS DAYTIME OVER CHINA, WHEN YOU WERE FLYING OVER CHINA, SEEING THAT THE SEEING WAS SO GOOD WOULD YOU LIKE TO TELL US WHAT YOU SAW OUT THE WINDOW AT THAT TIME?"



COOPER : "WELL IT LOOKED JUST LIKE IT LOOKS ON THE MAP. NO, I COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING OTHER THAN JUST RUGGED COUNTRYSIDE. I SAW SOME CITY AREAS WHICH I ASSUME WERE SOME OF THE CITIES RIGHT ON THE MAPS AS WE WERE FLYING OVER.




Initials AA/N/MGT/LW



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: AMERICA'S CURRENT SPACE HERO, MAJOR GORDON COOPER, LITERALLY COMPLETED HIS ORBITS OF THE EARTH YESTERDAY (SUNDAY) WHEN HE ARRIVED BACK AT CAPE CANAVERAL IN FLORIDA - THE SPOT FROM WHICH HE BEGAN HIS 600-THOUSAND MILE TRIP ROUND THE WORLD, LAST WEDNESDAY.

MAJOR COOPER AND HIS WIFE, TRUDY, DROVE ALONG A SEVEN-MILE ROUTE FROM PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE TO COCOA BEACH WHERE HE WAS TO GIVE HIS FIRST OFFICIAL PRESS CONFERENCE SINCE RETURNING FROM THE 22-ORBIT FLIGHT.A HUGE CROWD FROM MILES AROUND WAVED AND CHEERED.SCORES OF HOME MADE SIGNS OF WELCOME WERE ALSO DISPLAYED AND BANDS HONOUR OF THE OKLAHOMA-BORN ASTRONAUT.