Deke Slayton
331454
221123801
2008-06-23T03:55:41Z
69.62.243.143
/* Books Authored */
{{Infobox Astronaut
|name =Donald Kent "Deke" Slayton
|image =Donald_K._Slayton_%281960%29.jpg
|type =Astronaut
|nationality =[[United States|American]]
|date_birth ={{birth date|1924|03|01}}
|date_death ={{death date and age|1993|06|13|1924|03|01}}
|place_birth =[[Sparta, Wisconsin]]
|place_death =[[League City]], [[Texas]]
|occupation =[[Fighter pilot]]
|rank =[[Major]], [[USAF]]
|selection =[[List of astronauts by selection#1959|1959 NASA Group]]
|time =9d 01h 28m
|mission =[[Apollo-Soyuz Test Project]]
|insignia =[[Image:ASTPpatch.png|30px]]
|}}
'''Donald Kent “Deke” Slayton''' ([[March 1]], [[1924]] – [[June 13]], [[1993]]) was one of the original "[[Mercury Seven]]" NASA astronauts.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www11.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/slayton.html |title = Biographical Data: Mr. Deke Slayton|publisher = [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration]]||year= 1993|month= June|accessdate=2008-01-28}}</ref> 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.
==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 [[European Theater|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]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.aviationhalloffamewisconsin.com/inductees/slayton.htm|title= Donald K “Deke” Slayton|accessdate=2008-01-28|publisher= Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame|quote= While at Edwards, Deke Slayton flew test flight missions on the F-101, F-102, F-105 and the F-106}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |title= Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond|last= Kranz|first= Gene|authorlink= Gene Kranz|coauthors= |year= 2000|publisher= [[Simon & Schuster]]|location= [[New York|New York City]]|isbn= 0743200799|oclc= 43590801|pages= |quote= He was one of the hot test pilots at Edwards Air Force Base, pushing the F-105 to its limits}}</ref>
A [[US Air Force]] pilot, he was chosen as one of the [[Mercury Seven|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 [[Project Mercury|Mercury program]], and in fact would fly in space on the final mission of the [[Project Apollo|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 [[Project Gemini|Gemini]] and [[Project Apollo|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]].
[[Image:Deke Slayton and Aleksey Leonov.jpg|thumb|right|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|Apollo-Soyuz Test Project]], designed to allow a docking between the American [[Apollo spacecraft]] and the [[Soyuz programme|Soyuz]] spacecraft of the [[Soviet Union]]. On [[July 17]], [[1975]], the two craft joined up in orbit, and astronauts Slayton, [[Thomas Patten Stafford|Thomas Stafford]] and [[Vance D. Brand]] conducted crew transfers with cosmonauts [[Aleksei Leonov|Aleksey A. Leonov]] and [[Valeri Kubasov|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|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 cancer|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.
The Deke Slayton Memorial Space & Bike Museum in Sparta, Wisconsin was named in his honour.
==Film portraits==
* In the 1983 film ''[[The Right Stuff (film)|The Right Stuff]]'' Slayton was played by [[Scott Paulin]].
* In the 1995 film ''[[Apollo 13 (film)|Apollo 13]]'' he was played by [[Chris Ellis (actor)|Chris Ellis]].
* In the 1996 TV movie ''[[Apollo 11 (film)|Apollo 11]]'' he was played by [[Jack Conley (actor)|Jack Conley]].
* In the 1998 TV miniseries ''[[From the Earth to the Moon (HBO)|From the Earth to the Moon]]'' he was played by [[Nick Searcy]].
==See also==
*[[List of notable brain tumor patients]]
==Books Authored==
*{{cite book |title= Deke!: U.S. Manned Space from Mercury to the Shuttle|last= Slayton|first= Donald K|authorlink= |coauthors= Cassutt, Michael|year= 1994|edition= 1st edition|publisher= Forge: St. Martin's Press|location= [[New York|New York City]]|isbn= 0312855036|oclc= 29845663|pages=}}
*{{cite book |title= [[Moon Shot|Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America’s Race to the Moon]]|last= Shepard|first= Alan B|authorlink= |coauthors= Slayton, Donald K|year= 1994|edition= 1st edition|publisher= Turner Publishing|location= [[Atlanta]]|isbn= 1878685546|oclc= 29846731|pages=}} Author in name only.
*{{cite book |title= [[We Seven]]|last= THE ASTRONAUTS Themselves|first=|authorlink= |coauthors= Carpenter, M. Scott; Cooper, L. Gordon, Jr.; Glen, John H., Jr.; Grissom, Virgil I.; Schirra, Walter M., Jr.; Shephard, Alan B., Jr; Slayton, Donald K. |year= 1962|edition=|publisher= Simon and Schuster, Inc.|location= New York|isbn= |oclc= |pages=473}} Credited as "by THE ASTRONAUTS Themselves" on book cover. Names listed on Title Page.
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www11.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/slayton.html NASA Biography]
*[http://www.dekeslayton.com/ Deke Slayton Museum]
*[http://www.airfest.com/ Deke Slayton Airfest]
*[http://www.spaceflighthistory.com/mercuryprogram.htm#deke Deke Slayton- U.S. Spaceflight History Biography]
*{{Find A Grave|id=11277}}
{{Astronaut Group 1 Footer}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slayton, Donald K.}}
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category:American astronauts]]
[[Category:People from Wisconsin]]
[[Category:American military personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:American World War II pilots]]
[[Category:United States Air Force officers]]
[[Category:Test pilots]]
[[Category:University of Minnesota alumni]]
[[Category:Brain cancer deaths]]
[[Category:U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame Inductees]]
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