Donald Kent “Deke” Slayton (March 1, 1924 – June 13, 1993) was one of the original
NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for...
Mercury SevenThe Mercury Seven was the group of seven Mercury astronauts picked by NASA on April 9, 1959. They are also referred to as the Original Seven and Astronaut Group 1...
astronauts. After initially being grounded by a heart condition, he 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 as the docking module pilot of the
Apollo-Soyuz Test ProjectThe Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the last mission in the Apollo program and was the first joint flight of the U.S. and Soviet space programs. The mission took place in July 1975...
. At the time of the flight, he became the oldest person to fly into space, a record currently held by
John GlennJohn Herschel Glenn Jr. is a retired United States Marine Corps pilot, a former astronaut and United States Senator who was the first American and third person to orbit the Earth. Glenn was a Marine Corps fighter pilot before joining NASA's Mercury program, NASA's original astronaut group. He...
on
STS-95STS-95 was a Space Shuttle Discovery mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on October 29, 1998. It was the 25th flight of Discovery and the 92nd mission flown since the start of the Space Shuttle program in April 1981. It was a highly publicized mission due to former Project Mercury...
.
Early life
Slayton was born on a farm near
Sparta, WisconsinSparta is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Wisconsin, United States, along the La Crosse River. The population was 8,648 at the 2000 census.-Notable people:*William Hawley Atwell, U.S. District Court Judge in Texas...
. A childhood farm equipment accident left him with a severed left ring finger. He entered the
United States Army Air ForcesThe United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. It was a component of the United States Army, divided functionally by executive order in 1942 into three autonomous forces: the Army Ground Forces, the...
as a cadet in 1942, training as a B-25 bomber pilot. He flew 56 combat missions with the 340th Bombardment Group over
EuropeThe European Theatre of World War II was a huge area of heavy fighting across Europe from Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 until the end of the war with the German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945...
during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
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 engineeringAerospace engineering is the branch of engineering behind the design, construction and science of aircraft and spacecraft. It is broken into two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering...
from the
University of MinnesotaThe University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States...
.
Slayton became one of the
NACAThe National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics was a U.S. federal agency founded on March 3, 1915 to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958 the agency was dissolved, and its assets and personnel transferred to the newly created National Aeronautics and...
test pilots at
Edwards AFBEdwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County, California, in the Antelope Valley. It is southwest of the central business district of North Edwards, California and due east of Rosamond. It is named in...
in California. He tested supersonic Air Force fighters, including the F-101, F-102, F-105, and F-106, 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 VietnamNorth Vietnam, also called the Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976....
.
Mercury Seven
Slayton was chosen as one of the
original seven American AstronautsThe Mercury Seven was the group of seven Mercury astronauts picked by NASA on April 9, 1959. They are also referred to as the Original Seven and Astronaut Group 1...
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 fibrillationAtrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia and involves the two upper chambers of the heart. Its name comes from the fibrillating of the heart muscles of the atria, instead of a coordinated contraction...
), he was grounded, and his place was taken by
Scott CarpenterMalcolm Scott Carpenter is an engineer, former test pilot, astronaut, and aquanaut. He is best known as one of the original seven astronauts selected for NASA's Project Mercury in April 1959....
aboard "Aurora 7". Slayton was the only member of the Mercury Seven who did not fly on the
Mercury programProject Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States. It ran from 1959 through 1963 with the goal of putting a human in orbit around the Earth...
. He was one of the eight Paresev pilots.
Gemini and Apollo selection
When NASA grounded Slayton, the Air Force followed suit. Slayton resigned his Air Force commission in 1963 and worked for
NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for...
in a civilian capacity as head of astronaut selection. Unofficially called "Chief Astronaut," he had the decisive role in choosing the crews for the
GeminiProject Gemini was the second human spaceflight program of NASA, the civilian space agency of the United States government. Project Gemini operated between Projects Mercury and Apollo, with 10 manned flights occurring in 1965 and 1966...
and
ApolloNASA's Apollo Program landed the first humans on Earth's moon. US President John F. Kennedy announced his support for a manned moon landing on May 25, 1961, as part of a special address to a joint session of Congress:...
programs, including the decision of who would be the first person on the moon.
In 1972, Slayton was awarded the
Society of Experimental Test PilotsThe Society of Experimental Test Pilots is an international organization that seeks to promote air safety and contributes to aeronautical advancement by promoting sound aeronautical design and development; interchanging ideas, thoughts and suggestions of the members, assisting in the professional...
James H. Doolittle AwardThe James H. Doolittle Award is an honor presented annually by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. It is an award for "outstanding accomplishment in technical management or engineering achievement in aerospace technology". The award consistes of a perpetual trophy on permanent display at SETP...
.
Apollo-Soyuz flight
A long medical program 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, designed to allow a docking between the American
Apollo spacecraftThe Apollo spacecraft was designed as part of the Apollo Program, by the United States in the early 1960s to land men on the moon by 1970 and return them safely to earth. This goal was set forth by President Kennedy after the first flight of the Mercury Space Program...
and the
SoyuzThe Soyuz programme is a human spaceflight programme that was initiated by the Soviet Union in the early 1960s. It was originally part of a Moon landing programme intended to put a Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon. Both the Soyuz spacecraft and the Soyuz rocket are part of this programme, which is now...
spacecraft of the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
. On July 17, 1975, the two craft joined up in orbit, and astronauts Slayton,
Thomas StaffordThomas Patten Stafford is a retired Air Force Lieutenant General, a former NASA astronaut, and the first General Officer to fly into space. He is one of only 24 people to have flown to the Moon.-Background:...
and
Vance D. BrandVance DeVoe Brand is an engineer and former NASA astronaut.-Personal data & education:Brand was born in Longmont, Colorado, May 9, 1931. He was active in Troop 64 of the Boy Scouts of America in Longmont, where he achieved its second highest rank, Life Scout. He was active in the International...
conducted crew transfers with cosmonauts
Aleksey A. LeonovAlexey Arkhipovich Leonov is a retired Soviet/Russian cosmonaut and Air Force General who, on March 18, 1965, became the first human to conduct a space walk.-Biography:...
and
Valeriy KubasovValeri Nikolayevich Kubasov was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on two missions in the Soyuz programme as a flight engineer: Soyuz 6 and Soyuz 19 , and commanded Soyuz 36 in the Intercosmos programme. He was also involved in the development of the Mir space station...
. 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, HawaiiHonolulu is the capital of and the most populous census-designated place in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Although Honolulu refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and the county are consolidated, known as the City and County of Honolulu, and the city and...
for two weeks. During hospitalization, a
lesionA lesion is any abnormal tissue found on or in an organism, usually damaged by disease or trauma. Lesion is derived from the Latin word laesio which means injury.-Causes of lesions:...
was discovered on Slayton's lung and removed. It was determined to be benign.
Upon his return from the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project flight, he became Head of Shuttle
Approach and Landing TestsThe Approach and Landing Tests were a series of taxi and flight trials of the prototype space shuttle Enterprise to test the vehicle's flight characteristics both on its own and when mated to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, prior to the operational debut of the shuttle system.-Background:The Space...
Program for NASA's space shuttle program.
Retirement
Slayton retired from NASA in 1982. After 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 "
ConestogaThe Conestoga was a rocket consisting originally of surplus Minuteman missile stages with additional strap-on boosters, as required, for larger payloads. It was the world's first privately-funded commercial rocket, but was used only three times before the program was shut down due to a lack of...
", which was successfully launched on September 9, 1982. He also became interested in aviation racing.
Slayton penned an autobiography with space historian
Michael CassuttMichael Joseph Cassutt is a television producer, screenwriter, and author. His notable TV work includes producing/writing for the revived version of The Outer Limits and for Eerie, Indiana...
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 ShepardAlan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. was the second person and the first American in space. He later commanded the Apollo 14 mission, and was the fifth person to walk on the moon....
, on the book
Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the MoonFor the Buffy Sainte-Marie album, see Moonshot .Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon is a book written by Mercury Seven astronaut Alan Shepard, with NBC News correspondent Jay Barbree and Associated Press aviation writer Howard Benedict. Astronaut Donald K...
, 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 CorbinLeonard Barrie "Barry" Corbin is an American actor with more than one hundred film, television and video game credits.-Career:...
) and includes a brief tribute to him at the very end.
Shortly after he moved to
League City, TexasLeague City is a city in Galveston County and Harris County in the U.S. state of Texas, within the metropolitan area. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city population was 45,444; in the 2006 census estimate, the population was listed as 67,200...
in 1992, Slayton was diagnosed with a malignant
brain tumorA brain tumor is an abnormal growth of cells within the brain or inside the skull, which can be cancerous or non-cancerous .It is defined as any intracranial tumor created by abnormal and uncontrolled cell division, normally either in the brain itself , in the cranial nerves...
. He succumbed to the illness the following summer.
Legacy
With the other Mercury astronauts, Slayton was awarded the
Collier TrophyThe Collier Trophy is an annual aviation award administered by the U.S. National Aeronautics Association , presented to those who have made "the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space...
in 1962 for "pioneering manned spaceflight in the USA".
Slayton was enshrined in the
National Aviation Hall of FameThe American 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...
in 1996.
The Deke Slayton Cancer Center (located on Medical Center Blvd. in
Webster, TexasWebster is a city in Harris County, Texas, United States. The population was 9,083 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Webster is located at ....
) 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 honor. The Museum's Donald Kent "Deke" Slayton exhibit examines the accomplishments of one of Monroe County, Wisconsin's most famous sons. Deke was born in a hospital in Sparta WI, raised on a farm just north of Leon WI. He attended elementary school in Leon WI and graduated from Sparta WI High School. The biographical exhibit includes Deke's Mercury 7 Space suit, his Ambassador of Exploration Award, which showcases a lunar sample and much more. In nearby La Crosse, Wisconsin, an annual summer aircraft
airshowAn air show is an event at which aviators display their flying skills and the capabilities of their aircraft to spectators in aerobatics. Air shows without aerobatic displays, having only aircraft displayed parked on the ground, are called "static air shows".Air shows are held for a variety of...
, the Deke Slayton Airfest, has been held in his honor, featuring modern and vintage military and civilian aircraft, along with
NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for...
speakers.
Appearances in media
- In the 1983 film The Right Stuff Slayton was played by Scott Paulin
Scott Paulin is an American actor and television director.-Career:His work includes appearances in well-known television series like House M.D., ER, Cold Case, 24 and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation...
.
- In the 1995 film Apollo 13
Apollo 13 is a 1995 film that dramatized the ill-fated lunar mission of the same name in 1970. The movie was adapted by William Broyles, Jr. and Al Reinert from the book Lost Moon by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger, and was directed by Ron Howard...
he was played by Chris EllisChris Ellis is an American actor with parts in movies such as My Cousin Vinny and Days of Thunder as well as countless television programs.Ellis always wanted to be an actor because of television...
.
- In the 1996 TV movie Apollo 11
Apollo 11 was a made-for-TV movie which aired on November 17, 1996. It was nominated for Primetime Emmy....
he was played by Jack ConleyJack Conley is an American actor. He is 6`5" .-Filmography:* Heaven's Gate as Morrison * Hit the Dutchman as Thomas Dewey* Mad Dog Coll as Owen Madden* Baja as Duke...
.
- In the 1998 TV miniseries From the Earth to the Moon he was played by Nick Searcy
-Career:Having made his film debut as "Father #2" in Unspeakable Acts, a 1990 film about the "Dade County Day Care Center Panic", he has been a continued presence in both television and film.Searcy has performed in both television and film...
.
- In the 2002 novel Ice, Slayton is the command module pilot for a fictional Apollo 20.
See also
Books authored
Author in name only. Credited as "by THE ASTRONAUTS Themselves" on book cover. Names listed on Title Page.
External links