Flown fire starter kit carried on board Gordon Cooper’s Faith 7 mission. Contents are still sealed in their original 3 x 4.5 plastic pouch with an 11″ length of braided cord tied through a small hole in one corner. Accompanied by a letter of provenance from Cooper on his Mickey Mouse stationery which reads, “This fire starter kit was flown on Mercury (Faith 7) in the survival kit on 15-16 May 1963.” In fine condition. A critical part of the astronaut’s pre-flight instruction was survival training, necessary in case their capsule landed somewhere other than the planned splashdown area. Each mission carried a pre-packaged kit of supplies which could be used to survive anywhere in the world until rescue arrived. All the Mercury astronauts spent four days together training in the desert at Stead Air Force Base in Nevada. A very uncommon flown artifact, which fortunately never had to be used. RR Auction COA.