Deke Slayton

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Donald Kent "Deke" Slayton
Deke Slayton
Astronaut
Nationality American
Born March 1, 1924
Sparta, Wisconsin
Died June 13, 1993 (age 69)
League City, Texas
Other occupation Fighter pilot
Rank Major, USAF
Space time 9d 01h 28m
Selection 1959 NASA Group
Missions Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
Mission
insignia

Donald Kent “Deke” Slayton (March 1, 1924 – June 13, 1993) was one of the original "Mercury Seven" NASA astronauts.[1] Initially grounded by a heart condition, he would serve as NASA's Director of Flight Crew Operations. Deke Slayton was responsible for all crew assignments at NASA from November 1963 until March 1972, when he was granted medical clearance to fly as docking module pilot of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. At the time of the flight, he became the oldest person to fly into space.

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[edit] Biography

Slayton was born on a farm near Sparta, Wisconsin. A childhood farm equipment accident left him with a severed left ring finger. He entered the United States Army Air Forces as a cadet in 1942 . He trained as a B-25 bomber pilot and flew 56 combat missions with the 340th Bombardment Group over Europe during World War II and later flew seven combat missions over Japan in Douglas A-26 Invaders as part of the 319th Bombardment Group.

After the war, Slayton earned a bachelor of science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.

Slayton became one of the NACA test pilots at Edwards AFB in the California Desert. He would test a number of supersonic USAF fighters, including the F-101, F-102, F-105, and F-106.[2] Slayton was responsible for determining stall-spin characteristics for the large F-105 which would become the principal fighter bomber used by the USAF over North Vietnam.[3]

A US Air Force pilot, he was chosen as one of the original seven American Astronauts in 1959. Slayton was scheduled to fly in 1962 on the second orbital flight (to have been named Delta 7, the name coming from the mission being the fourth spaceflight--the fourth letter in the Greek alphabet and the seven astronauts), but due to an erratic heart rate (idiopathic atrial fibrillation), he was grounded, and his place was taken by Scott Carpenter. Slayton was the only member of the Mercury Seven who did not fly on the Mercury program, and in fact would fly in space on the final mission of the Apollo spacecraft. Slayton was one of the eight Paresev pilots (history office, Peter W. Merlin, compilation done in 1998).

When NASA grounded him, the Air Force followed suit. Slayton resigned his Air Force commission in 1963 and worked for NASA in a civilian capacity as head of Astronaut selection. Unofficially called "Chief Astronaut," he had the decisive role of choosing the crews for the Gemini and Apollo programs, including the decision of who would be the first person on the moon. In 1972, Slayton was awarded the Society of Experimental Test Pilots James H. Doolittle Award.

Deke Slayton (left) with Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov in the Soyuz spacecraft
Deke Slayton (left) with Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov in the Soyuz spacecraft

A long medical program led to him being restored to full flight status in 1972, when he was selected as docking module pilot for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, designed to allow a docking between the American Apollo spacecraft and the Soyuz spacecraft of the Soviet Union. On July 17, 1975, the two craft joined up in orbit, and astronauts Slayton, Thomas Stafford and Vance D. Brand conducted crew transfers with cosmonauts Aleksey A. Leonov and Valeriy Kubasov.

At the end of the flight, a leaking thruster led to the introduction of noxious fumes into the Apollo cabin during landing, and the crew was hospitalized as a precaution in Honolulu, Hawaii, for two weeks. During hospitalization, a lesion was discovered on Slayton's lung and removed. It was determined to be benign.

Upon his return, he became Head of Shuttle Approach & Landing Test Program for NASA's Space Shuttle program.

Slayton retired from NASA in 1982 . After his retirement, he served as president of Space Services, Inc., a Houston based company he founded to develop rockets for small commercial payloads. He helped design and build a rocket called the "Conestoga", which was successfully launched on September 9, 1982. He also became interested in aviation racing.

Slayton penned an autobiography with space historian Michael Cassutt entitled Deke!: U.S. Manned Space from Mercury to the Shuttle. As well as Slayton's own astronaut experiences, the book describes the way in which Slayton made crew choice selections, including choosing the first person to walk on the moon. Numerous astronauts have noted that only when reading this book did they learn why they had been selected for certain flights decades earlier.

Slayton's name also appears with three other co-authors, including fellow astronaut Alan Shepard, on the book Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon, published in 1994. The book was also made into a documentary film of the same name. Slayton passed away before either Moon Shot project was finished or released, and the book did not receive any input from him. However, the film was narrated from Deke Slayton's point of view (voiced by Barry Corbin) and includes a brief tribute to Deke at the very end.

Shortly after he moved to League City, Texas in 1992, Slayton was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. He succumbed to the illness the following summer.

Slayton was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1996.

The Deke Slayton Cancer Center (located on Medical Center Blvd. in Webster, Texas) was named in his honor.

The main stretch of road in League City, TX FM518 was renamed Deke Slayton.

[edit] Film portraits

[edit] See also

[edit] Books Authored

[edit] References

  1. ^ Biographical Data: Mr. Deke Slayton. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (June 1993). Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
  2. ^ Donald K “Deke” Slayton. Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame. Retrieved on 2008-01-28. “While at Edwards, Deke Slayton flew test flight missions on the F-101, F-102, F-105 and the F-106”
  3. ^ Kranz, Gene (2000). Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond. New York City: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0743200799. OCLC 43590801. “He was one of the hot test pilots at Edwards Air Force Base, pushing the F-105 to its limits” 

[edit] External links

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NASA Astronaut Group 1 (Mercury Seven)
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NASA Astronaut Groups