Astronaut? Or Photographer?
Basically, as Faith 7 was coming back to the planet, the automatic piloting system malfunctioned. Cooper was an experienced and skilled flier, so he didn’t panic. What he did do was take over the controls and maneuver his way back to Earth. He landed in the ocean and was picked up by helicopter and was taken to an aircraft carrier. Mission complete… right?
Photo by Granger / Shutterstock
What the public wasn’t aware of was that part of Cooper’s mission was to take pictures. In a message to ground control, he said: “Man, all I do is take pictures, pictures, pictures. I’m up to 5,245 now.” Looking for eye-catching shots was only part of the mission. He was doing much more than that.