Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr. named his capsule Faith 7 to express his faith in the Atlas booster, the Mercury spacecraft, and the personnel who made them fly; the "7" honored his place among the Original Seven. The final mission of Project Mercury, launched on May 15, 1963, proved that faith was well placed—though it was tested severely. Cooper circled Earth 22 times over 34 hours and 20 minutes, conducting eleven experiments and transmitting the first slow-scan television images from an American crewed spacecraft. During the 19th orbit, a faulty sensor signaled a false reentry; two orbits later, a short circuit disabled the automatic stabilization and control system. As cabin and suit CO₂ levels began to rise, Cooper reported in his characteristic understatement, "Things are beginning to stack up a little." He took manual control, oriented the spacecraft for retrofire, and personally commanded the de-orbit burn. During reentry he deployed the drogue chute at 50,000 feet and the main at 11,000 feet, then inflated the landing bag just before splashdown. Faith 7 landed only four miles from the prime recovery ship, USS Kearsarge—the most accurate landing to date. Cooper had spent more time in space on this single flight than all five previous Mercury astronauts combined. Project Mercury was complete; the bridge to Gemini was open.