This final flight of the Mercury program remained in orbit for a day and a half. While Soviet human flights had already lasted multiple days, NASA had no data on the effect that had on the human body. To answer that question and bring Mercury to up to the same level as the Soviet Vostok program, Faith 7 was a 34-hour mission. Gordon Cooper tested a person's ability to track a blinking object in orbit, measured atmospheric drag on the spacecraft, and sent back the first American television images from space, although they were never broadcast live at the time.