Daniel Pinna
Astronaut's Daughters Have Good Hookey Excuse
The following was published in the Big Spring Daily Herald in Texas on May 12th 1963:
HOUSTON (AP) - Two teen-age girls will play hookey from school Tuesday without fear of being disciplined. Camala Cooper, 14, and her sister, Janita, 13, will remain in their ranch-style home 25 miles east of Houston to keep check on their father - astronaut Gordon Cooper - on what is planned to be the longest U.S. space flight. With them will be their mother, pretty Trudy Olson Cooper. The three plan to remain in seclusion in the rambling home near the $200 million home the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is building for the manned spacecraft center, the training base for astronauts.
Mrs. Cooper and the girls plan to make a brief appearance for the benefit of newsmen only after the end of the flight and Cooper's safe recovery. Their seclusion is expected to last more than 34 hours. Cooper's flight plan calls for a maximum of 22 orbits that would require a little more than 34 hours. His capsule is scheduled to land in the Pacific Ocean late Wednesday afternoon, Houston time.
Mrs. Cooper sidestepped questions this week about the flight. She indicated, however, she was pleased with Cape Canaveral, Fla., reports that preparations for the Tuesday morning launch were proceeding satisfactorily. Tentative plans call for Mrs. Cooper, and possibly the girls, to fly to Honolulu on Thursday to participate in welcoming ceremonies there for their husband and father.
HOUSTON (AP) - Two teen-age girls will play hookey from school Tuesday without fear of being disciplined. Camala Cooper, 14, and her sister, Janita, 13, will remain in their ranch-style home 25 miles east of Houston to keep check on their father - astronaut Gordon Cooper - on what is planned to be the longest U.S. space flight. With them will be their mother, pretty Trudy Olson Cooper. The three plan to remain in seclusion in the rambling home near the $200 million home the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is building for the manned spacecraft center, the training base for astronauts.
Mrs. Cooper and the girls plan to make a brief appearance for the benefit of newsmen only after the end of the flight and Cooper's safe recovery. Their seclusion is expected to last more than 34 hours. Cooper's flight plan calls for a maximum of 22 orbits that would require a little more than 34 hours. His capsule is scheduled to land in the Pacific Ocean late Wednesday afternoon, Houston time.
Mrs. Cooper sidestepped questions this week about the flight. She indicated, however, she was pleased with Cape Canaveral, Fla., reports that preparations for the Tuesday morning launch were proceeding satisfactorily. Tentative plans call for Mrs. Cooper, and possibly the girls, to fly to Honolulu on Thursday to participate in welcoming ceremonies there for their husband and father.
Sandi Fulmer 
