Donn Fulton Eisele
NASA Astronaut
Nationality	American
Status	Deceased
Born	June 23, 1930 Columbus, Ohio
Died	December 2, 1987 Tokyo, Japan
Other occupation	Pilot
Rank	Colonel, USAF
Space time	10d 20h 08m
Selection	1963 NASA Group
Missions	Apollo 7
Mission insignia

Donn Fulton Eisele (June 23, 1930 – December 2, 1987), born in Columbus, Ohio, was a test pilot in the USAF and a NASA astronaut. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (605x868, 74 KB) Summary NASA Astronaut Biography of Donn Eisele Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... For other uses, see NASA (disambiguation). ... is the 174th day of the year (175th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Ohio, USA Coordinates: , Country State Counties Franklin, Fairfield, Delaware Government  - Mayor Michael B. Coleman (D) Area  - City 212. ... is the 336th day of the year (337th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... For other uses, see Tokyo (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Aviator (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Colonel (disambiguation). ... 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... Apollo 7 was the first manned mission in the Apollo program to be launched. ... is the 174th day of the year (175th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 336th day of the year (337th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... Nickname: Location in the state of Ohio, USA Coordinates: , Country State Counties Franklin, Fairfield, Delaware Government  - Mayor Michael B. Coleman (D) Area  - City 212. ... “The U.S. Air Force” redirects here. ... For other uses, see NASA (disambiguation). ...

Education

Eisele graduated from West High School in Columbus, Ohio. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1952 and a Master of Science degree in Astronautics in 1960 from the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. The United States Naval Academy (USNA) is an institution for the undergraduate education of officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps and is in Annapolis, Maryland . ... Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) is located at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio in Area B. The Institute includes a School of Systems and Logistics, and a School of Engineering. ... Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force base in Greene and Montgomery counties, adjacent to Fairborn and Dayton, Ohio. ...

Organizations

Eisele was a member of Tau Beta Pi, the National Engineering Society, and a Freemason, belonging to Turner Lodge #732 in Columbus, Ohio. The bent at Iowa Alpha (Iowa State University) Tau Beta Pi (ΤΒΠ or TBP) is the national engineering honor society in the United States and the second oldest collegiate honor society in the US. It honors students who have shown a history of academic achievement as well as a commitment to... American Square & Compasses Freemasonry is a worldwide fraternal organization. ...

Special honors

Eisele was an Eagle Scout. Among the honors he received during his military and NASA career were the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, the Air Force Senior Pilot Astronaut Wings, and the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross. He was a co-recipient of the AIAA 1969 Haley Astronautics Award and was presented the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Special Trustees Award in 1969. An Eagle Scout is a Scout with the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). ... The Distinguished Flying Cross. ... The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the scholarly society for the field of aerospace engineering. ... Also: 1969 (number) 1969 (movie) 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ...

Experience

Although he graduated from the United States Naval Academy, Eisele chose a commission in the United States Air Force. He graduated from the Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California. Edwards Air Force Base is a base located on the border of Kern County and Los Angeles County, California in the Antelope Valley, northeast of Lancaster. ...

Eisele was a project engineer and experimental test pilot at the Air Force Special Weapons Center at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico. He flew experimental test flights in support of special weapons development programs. Kirtland Air Force Base is located in the southeast quadrant of Albuquerque, New Mexico, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. ...

He logged more than 4,200 hours flying time — 3,600 of those hours in jet aircraft.

NASA

Eisele was one of the third group of astronauts selected by NASA in October 1963. For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ...

The Apollo 7 crew: Donn Eisele(l.), Wally Schirra (c.), and Walter Cunningham (r.)

On October 11, 1968, he occupied the command module pilot seat for the eleven-day flight of Apollo VII — the first manned flight test of the third generation United States spacecraft. With spacecraft commander Walter M. Schirra, Jr. and lunar module pilot Walter Cunningham, Eisele participated in and executed maneuvers enabling the crew to perform exercises in transposition and docking and lunar orbit rendezvous with the S-IVB stage of their Saturn IB launch vehicle. They completed eight successful test and maneuvering ignitions of the service module propulsion engine, They also measured the accuracy of performance of all spacecraft systems, and provided the first effective television transmissions of onboard crew activities. is the 284th day of the year (285th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Walter Marty Schirra, Jr. ... Ronnie Walter Walt Cunningham (born March 16, 1932) was an American astronaut. ... The Saturn IB was an uprated version of the Saturn I, which featured a much more powerful second stage, the S-IVB. Unlike the earlier Saturn I, the IB had enough throw weight to launch the Apollo Command/Service Module or Lunar Module into Earth orbit, which made it invaluable...

Apollo 7 was placed in an Earth-orbit with an apogee of 153.5 nautical miles (284.3 kilometers) and perigee of 122.6 nautical miles (227.1 km). The 260-hour, four-and-a-half million mile (7.25 Gm) shakedown flight was successfully concluded on October 22, 1968, with splashdown occurring in the Atlantic, eight miles (15 km) from the carrier Essex (only three-tenths of a mile or 0.6 km from the originally predicted aiming point). Eisele logged 260 hours in space. Apollo 7 was the first manned mission in the Apollo program to be launched. ... A nautical mile or sea mile is a unit of length. ... A kilometer (Commonwealth spelling: kilometre), symbol: km is a unit of length in the metric system equal to 1,000 metres (from the Greek words χίλια (khilia) = thousand and μέτρο (metro) = count/measure). ... is the 295th day of the year (296th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Atlantic and North Atlantic redirect here. ... The fourth USS Essex (CV-9) (also CVA-9 and CVS-9) was a United States Navy aircraft carrier, the lead ship of her class. ...

Eisele also served as backup command module pilot for the 1969 Apollo 10 flight. Eisele resigned from the Astronaut Office in 1970 and became technical assistant for manned spaceflight at the NASA Langley Research Center, a position he occupied until retiring from both NASA and the Air Force in 1972. Apollo 10 was the fourth manned mission in the Apollo program, and the first (and only manned Saturn V) mission to launch from pad 39B. The mission included the second crew to orbit the Moon, and the test of the lunar module in lunar orbit. ... Langley Research Center NASA Langley 14 x 22 foot Subsonic Wind Tunnel. ...

Post-NASA career

In July 1972, Eisele became Country Director of the U.S. Peace Corps in Thailand. Upon returning from Thailand, he became Sales Manager for the Marion Power Shovel Company, a division of Dresser Industries. Eisele then handled private and corporate accounts for the investment firm of Oppenheimer & Company. It has been suggested that Crisis corps be merged into this article or section. ... Dresser Industries was a multinational corporation headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which provides a wide range of technology, products, and services used for developing energy and natural resources. ...

Eisele died at the age of 57 of a heart attack while on a business trip to Tokyo, Japan, where he was to attend the opening of a new Space Camp patterned on the one at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. He was survived by his wife Susan and their two children. Eisele also had four children from a previous marriage. Eisele was cremated in Japan, and his remains buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Heart attack redirects here. ... Tokyo (東京; Tōkyō, lit. ... Space Camp is a 1986 movie based on a book by Patrick Bailey and Larry B Williams and inspired by the real-life U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. ... Some of the rockets in the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. ... Huntsville is the name of some places in the United States of America: Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville, Arkansas Huntsville, Missouri Huntsville, Ohio Huntsville, Tennessee Huntsville, Texas Huntsville, Utah Huntsville, Pennsylvania Huntsville, Ontario is also a town in Canada. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

A family-approved account of Donn Eisele's life appears in the 2007 book In the Shadow of the Moon Not to be confused with In the Shadow of the Moon. ...

In the 1998 miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, Eisele was played by John Mese. 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. ...

External links

• NASA bio of Eisele
• Spacefacts biography of Donn F. Eisele