Deke Slayton

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Donald Kent Slayton
Slayton.jpg
NASA astronaut
Other names Deke Slayton
Born (1924-03-01)March 1, 1924
Sparta, Wisconsin, U.S.
Died June 13, 1993(1993-06-13) (aged 69)
League City, Texas, U.S.
Previous occupation Bomber pilot; test pilot
Alma mater University of Minnesota
Rank Major, USAF
Time in space 9 days, 1 hour and 28 minutes
Selection 1959 NASA Group
Missions Apollo–Soyuz Test Project
Mission insignia Astp-S75-20361.jpg
Retirement February 27, 1982
Awards Collier Trophy
James H. Doolittle Award

Donald Kent Slayton (March 1, 1924 – June 13, 1993), better known as Deke Slayton, was an American World War II pilot, one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts, and a NASA administrator.[1]

After joining NASA, Slayton was selected to pilot the second U.S. manned orbital spaceflight, but was grounded in 1962 by a heart murmur. He then served as NASA's director of flight crew operations, making him responsible for crew assignments at NASA from November 1963 until March 1972. At that time he was granted medical clearance to fly, and was assigned as the docking module pilot of the 1975 Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, becoming the oldest person to fly in space at age 51. This record was surpassed in 1983 by 53 year old John Young and in 1998 by his fellow Project Mercury astronaut John Glenn, who at the age of 77 flew on Space Shuttle mission STS-95.

Contents

Biography [edit]

Early life and education [edit]

Slayton was born on a farm near Sparta, Wisconsin. A childhood farm equipment accident left him with a severed left ring finger. He attended elementary school in Leon, Wisconsin and graduated from Sparta High School.

He entered the United States Army Air Forces as a cadet in 1942, training as a B-25 bomber pilot. He flew 56 combat missions with the 340th Bombardment Group over Europe during World War II and later flew seven combat missions over Japan in a Douglas A-26 Invader 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 a test pilot at Edwards AFB in California. He tested supersonic Air Force fighters, including the F-101, F-102, F-105, and F-106,[2] and was responsible for determining stall-spin characteristics for the large F-105, which became the principal fighter bomber used by the USAF over North Vietnam.[3]

Mercury Seven [edit]

Slayton was chosen as one of the original seven American astronauts in 1959. He 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 because of an erratic heart rate (idiopathic atrial fibrillation), he was grounded in September 1962,[4] and his place was taken by Scott Carpenter aboard Aurora 7. Slayton was the only member of the Mercury Seven who did not fly in the Mercury program. He was one of the eight Paresev pilots.[5]

Gemini and Apollo selection [edit]

When NASA grounded Slayton, 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 in 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.

Apollo–Soyuz flight [edit]

Deke Slayton (right) with cosmonaut Alexey Leonov in the Soyuz spacecraft

A long medical program[clarification needed] led to Slayton being restored to full flight status in 1972, when he was selected as docking module pilot for the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, 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 Alexey Leonov and Valeri Kubasov. At the end of the flight, an erroneous switch setting 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.

After the Apollo–Soyuz flight, he became head of the Approach and Landing Tests for NASA's space shuttle program.

Retirement [edit]

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Slayton retired from NASA in 1982. After retirement, he served as president of Space Services Inc., a Houston-based company earlier founded to develop rockets for small commercial payloads. He served as mission director for a rocket called the Conestoga, which was successfully launched on September 9, 1982, and was the world's first privately funded rocket to reach space.[6] Slayton 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 how 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 died 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 Slayton's point of view (voiced by Barry Corbin) and includes a brief tribute to him at the very end.

Personal life [edit]

Slayton was a friend of fellow astronaut Gus Grissom.[7] He married Marjorie Lunney in 1955, and they had one son, Kent Sherman. They eventually divorced, and Slayton later married Bobbie Belle Jones (1945-2010). They remained married until his death.[8]

Shortly after he moved to League City, Texas in 1992, Slayton was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. He died from the illness on June 13, 1993.

Legacy [edit]

With the other Mercury astronauts, Slayton was awarded the Collier Trophy in 1962 for "pioneering manned spaceflight in the USA".[9]

Slayton was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1996.[10]

The Texas Oncology-Clear Lake Deke Slayton Cancer Center (located on Medical Center Blvd. in Webster, Texas) was named in his honor in 2000.[11]

The main stretch of road in League City, Texas, F.M. 518 was renamed Deke Slayton Highway.[12]

The Deke Slayton Memorial Space & Bicycle Museum in Sparta, Wisconsin was named in his honor.[13] The Slayton biographical exhibit includes his Mercury space suit, his Ambassador of Exploration Award, which showcases a lunar sample, and more. In nearby La Crosse, Wisconsin, an annual summer aircraft airshow, the Deke Slayton Airfest, has been held in his honor, featuring modern and vintage military and civilian aircraft, along with NASA speakers.

In media [edit]

See also [edit]

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Portal icon United States Air Force portal


Books authored [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Biographical Data: Mr. Deke Slayton". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. June 1993. Retrieved 2008-01-28. 
  2. ^ "Donald K “Deke” Slayton". Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame. Retrieved 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 0-7432-0079-9. OCLC 43590801. "He was one of the hot test pilots at Edwards Air Force Base, pushing the F-105 to its limits" 
  4. ^ "Donald K. Slayton". International Space Hall of Fame. New Mexico Museum of Space History. Retrieved April 17, 2012. 
  5. ^ history office, Peter W. Merlin, compilation done in 1998
  6. ^ "September 9, 1982: 3-2-1 … Liftoff! The First Private Rocket Launch" by John C. Abell, Wired Magazine, September 9, 2009 http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2009/09/dayintech0909privaterocket/
  7. ^ Slayton, Deke, Cassutt, Michael. Deke!. ISBN 978-0-312-85918-3. 
  8. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=Uh8foEYDQlAC&pg=PA343&lpg=PA343&dq=kent+slayton+father&source=bl&ots=EoxC-mRvTf&sig=KLv4a8EG04IzJ4GoYKWjPRKr58k&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7LcxT97TEKHg0QHt0rnHBw&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=kent%20slayton%20father&f=false.  Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ^ "From Engineering Science to Big Science: The Collier as Commemoration". Retrieved 2011-02-10. 
  10. ^ "National Aviation Hall of fame: Our Enshrinees". Retrieved 2011-02-10. 
  11. ^ "Texas Oncology.com". Retrieved 2011-02-10. 
  12. ^ "Bobbie Slayton dead at 65". The Citizen. November 29, 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-10. 
  13. ^ "The Deke Slayton Memorial Space & Bicycle Museum". Retrieved 2011-02-10. 
  14. ^ The Right Stuff at the Internet Movie Database
  15. ^ Apollo 13 at the Internet Movie Database
  16. ^ Apollo 11 at the Internet Movie Database
  17. ^ From The Earth to the Moon at the Internet Movie Database

External links [edit]
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