Donald Kent 'Deke' Slayton

Astronaut
Nationality	American
Born	March 1, 1924 Sparta, Wisconsin
Died	June 13, 1993 (age 69) League City, Texas
Occupation1	Fighter pilot
Rank	Major, USAF
Space time	9d 01h 28m
Selection	1959 NASA Group
Mission(s)	Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
Mission insignia
1 previous or current

Donald Kent 'Deke' Slayton (March 1, 1924 – June 13, 1993) was one of the original "Mercury Seven" NASA astronauts. 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 man to fly into space. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar). ... Bicycling Capital of America Sparta is a city in Monroe County, Wisconsin, along the La Crosse River. ... June 13 is the 164th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (165th in leap years), with 201 days remaining. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... League City is located in Galveston County in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area. ... Official language(s) No Official Language See languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Area  Ranked 2nd  - Total 261,797 sq mi (678,051 km²)  - Width 773 miles (1,244 km)  - Length 790 miles (1,270 km)  - % water 2. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with aerial warfare. ... Major is a military rank the use of which varies according to country. ... Seal of the Air Force. ... 1958 1959 1960 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1984 1985 1987 1990 1992 1994 1995 1996 1997 2000 2003 2004 1958 June 25 - Man In Space Soonest - USA The first group of American astronaut candidates were selected... The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the first joint flight of the US and Soviet space programs. ... Apollo-Soyuz Test Project patch File links The following pages link to this file: Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Categories: NASA images ... March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar). ... June 13 is the 164th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (165th in leap years), with 201 days remaining. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Original seven Astronauts portrait (L-R: Schirra, Shepard, Slayton, Grissom, Glenn, Cooper, Carpenter) The Mercury Seven was the group of seven Mercury astronauts picked in April 1959. ... The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the first joint flight of the US and Soviet space programs. ...

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 pilot and flew 56 combat missions over Europe during World War II. Bicycling Capital of America Sparta is a city in Monroe County, Wisconsin, along the La Crosse River. ... The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was a part of the U.S. Army during World War II. The direct precursor to the U.S. Air Force, the USAAF formally existed between 1941 and 1947. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... German Führer Adolf Hitler Preceding events (See also Events preceding World War II in Europe and Causes of World War II.) br Germany was in debt after World War I, due to the Great Depression and the forced payments to the victors of World War I. Germans wanted a... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

After the war, Slayton earned a bachelor of science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. Washington Avenue Bridge at night The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, almost always abbreviated U of M, and sometimes referred to as The U by locals, is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system. ...

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 not fly in space until after the last moon shot. Seal of the Air Force. ... Original seven Astronauts portrait (L-R: Schirra, Shepard, Slayton, Grissom, Glenn, Cooper, Carpenter) The Mercury Seven was the group of seven Mercury astronauts picked in April 1959. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... Atrial fibrillation (AF or afib) is an abnormal heart rhythm (cardiac arrhythmia) which involves the two small, upper heart chambers (the atria). ... Astronaut M. Scott Carpenter inspects the heat shield of his Aurora 7 space capsule Malcolm Scott Carpenter (born May 1, 1925) was one of the original seven astronauts selected in 1959 for Project Mercury. ... Mercury program monument Project Mercury was the United States first manned spaceflight program. ...

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 man on the moon (though, in fact, the selection of Armstrong to precede Aldrin out of the LM was primarily a factor of design -- the direction that the door opened made it easier and faster for Armstrong to go first). Slayton remained extremely loyal to the other Mercury astronauts who remained in the space program ensuring they were given assignments. In 1972, Slayton was awarded the Society of Experimental Test Pilots James H. Doolittle Award. 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an agency of the United States Government, responsible for the nations public space program. ... Project Gemini was the second human spaceflight program of the United States of America. ... Project Apollo was a series of human spaceflight missions undertaken by the United States of America (NASA) using the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn launch vehicle, conducted during the years 1961–1974. ... The Society of Experimental Test Pilots was founded in 1955 as the Testy Test Pilots Society and had Scott Crossfield, Ray Tenhoff, Joe Ozier, Dick Johnson, Tom Kilgariff, John Fitzpatrick as its original members. ... The James H. Doolittle Award is an honor presented annually by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. ...

A long medical program led to him being restored to full flight status in 1973, when he selected himself 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. 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the first joint flight of the US and Soviet space programs. ... Apollo Spacecraft: Command Module, Service Module, Lunar Module. ... The Soyuz human spaceflight programme was initiated in the early 1960s as part of the manned lunar programme that was intended to put a Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon. ... hellotyle=float:right; |- | |- | |} July 17 is the 198th day (199th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 167 days remaining. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Thomas P. Stafford (born September 17, 1930) is an American astronaut and Air Force general. ... Vance DeVoe Brand (born May 9, 1931) is a former NASA astronaut. ... General Aleksei Arkhipovich Leonov, Soviet Air Force (Ret. ... Valeri Kubasov Valeri Nikolayevich Kubasov (Russian: Валерий Николаевич Кубасов; born January 7, 1935 in Vyazniki) was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on two missions in the Soyuz programme as...

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. 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). ...

Slayton teamed up with fellow astronaut Alan Shepard to write the book, Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon, in 1988. The book was made into a documentary film of the same name in 1994, but Slayton died before filming was completed. He also penned an autobiography entitled Deke!: An Autobiography. Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. ... Moon Shot: The Inside Story of Americas Race to the Moon is a book written by Alan Shepard and Donald K. Deke Slayton, two of the original Mercury Seven astronauts. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ...

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. League City is a city located in Galveston County, Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown Metropolitan Area. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... A brain tumor is any mass created by an abnormal and uncontrolled growth of cells either found in the brain (neurons, glial cells, epithelial cells, myelin producing cells, etc. ...

Slayton was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1996. The National Aviation Hall of Fame is located at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, east Dayton, Ohio. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...

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

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

Film portraits

• In the 1983 film The Right Stuff Slayton was played by Scott Paulin.
• In the 1995 film Apollo 13 he was played by Bill Paxton.
• In the 1996 TV movie Apollo 11 he was played by Jack Conley.
• In the 1998 TV miniseries From the Earth to the Moon he was played by Nick Searcy.

1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Right Stuff is a 1979 book (ISBN 0374250332) by Tom Wolfe, and a 1983 film adapted from the book. ... Scott Paulin (born February 13, 1950 in Steubenville, Ohio) is an American actor and television director. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Apollo 13 is a 1995 film portrayal of the ill-fated Apollo 13 lunar mission. ... William Bill Paxton (born May 17, 1955 in Fort Worth, Texas) is a Golden Globe award nominated American actor and film director. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean [1]. // Coated in ice, power and telephone lines sag and often break, resulting in power outages. ... From the Earth to the Moon is a twelve-part HBO television miniseries (1998) co-produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Tom Hanks, and Michael Bostick detailing the landmark Apollo expeditions to the Moon during the 1960s and early 1970s. ... Nick Searcy is an American actor born in Cullowhee, North Carolina on March 7, 1959. ...

See also

• List of notable brain tumor patients

United States Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania (right) is a long-term brain tumor survivor who continues to serve in public office . ...

Books

• Moon Shot, The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon - ISBN 1-57036-167-3
• Deke!: An Autobiography - ISBN 0-312-85918-X

External links

• NASA Biography
• Deke Slayton Museum
• Deke Slayton Airfest