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Deke Slayton

Deke SLAYTON

PROFILE

Full Name:

Donald Kent 'Deke' SLAYTON.

Rank:

Major, US Air Force. (Deceased.)

Born:

1 March 1924, in Sparta, Wisconsin, USA (American).

Died:

13 June 1993, in League City, Texas, aged 69.

Education:

1942: Graduated Sparta High School.

 

1949: BSc degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Career Highlights:

1942-46: Served in the Army Air Corps; completed flight training and flew 56 combat missions in B25 bombers over Europe during WWII with the 340th Bombardment Group; returned to the US to become an instructor pilot and later as a proficiency pilot on the A-26 bomber; completed 7 combat missions in A-26s in the Pacific theatre with the 319th Bombardment Group; served as a B-25 instructor pilot for a year after the end of WWII; (1946) honourably discharged from the Air Force.

 

1947-49: Student, University of Minnesota.

 

1949-51: Engineer, Boeing Aircraft Company, Seattle, Washington, where he worked on electrical systems and wing designs.

 

1951-63: Recalled to active duty as a maintenance flight test officer with F-51 squadron; then as a technical inspector at Headquarters, Twelfth Air Force; then with the 36th Fighter Day Wing at Bitburg, West Germany; (1955) returned to the US and attended USAF Test Pilot School, Edwards AFB, California, serving as a test pilot there from 1956 to 1959. He resigned from the USAF to continue as a civilian employee at NASA in 1963.

 

 

NASA ASTRONAUT ASSIGNMENTS

1959:

(9 Apr) Selected as one of the 'Original Seven' Mercury astronauts for NASA's Group 1; basic astronaut training'; (Jul) specialisation technical assignment in the Atlas launch vehicle; Mercury training.

1960:

Mercury training.

1961:

Mercury training; (May) Capcom MR-3 (Shepard); Mercury training; (Jul) Capcom MR-4 (Grissom); Mercury training; (Nov) informed he would fly MA-7, the second orbital mission; (29 Nov) named as Pilot MA-7, which he named Delta 7; Mercury training.

1962:

Mercury training; (15 Mar) removed from MA-7 due to medical issues and replaced by Scott Carpenter; Mercury support; (May) Capcom MA-7 (Carpenter); Mercury support; (Oct) Capcom MA-8 (Schirra); (18 Oct) Co-ordinator of Astronaut Activities, MSC.

1962-63:

Co-ordinator of Astronaut Activities (Chief Astronaut), MSC; (Nov 1963) resigned from USAF and assumed role of Director of Flight Crew Operations, MSC.

1963-72:

Director of Flight Crew Operations (FCO), MSC.

1972:

(13 Mar) Re-instated to flight status; Director FCO, MSC; nominated (himself) for Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP); (late) informed he would be Docking Module Pilot, ASTP.

1973:

(30 Jan) Named as Docking Module Pilot (DMP) Apollo 18, the US ASTP spacecraft; ASTP training; some of his work as Director, FCO assumed by Al Shepard until 1974.

1974:

ASTP training; (Feb) resigned as Director, FCO to assume full-time preparation for ASTP; ASTP training, including visits to the Soviet Union (USSR).

1975:

ASTP training, including visits to the USSR; (15-25 Jul) flew as DMP Apollo 18 ASTP (9 days 1 hr 28 min), including 44 hours of joint docking operations with Soyuz 19; Slayton spent 1 hr 35 min inside Soyuz 19; (Sep-Oct) two 2-week tours across the USA and USSR; retired from the Astronaut Office and FCO Directorate.

 

 

POST-ASTRONAUT EXPERIENCE

Dec 1975-Nov 1977:

Manager, Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests (ALT), NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards AFB, California.

Nov 1977-Feb 1982:

Manager, Shuttle Orbital Flight Test (OFT) Program, NASA JSC; (Feb 1981) officially retired but remained in a temporary position as an annuitant during the initial Shuttle OFT programme; (27 Feb 1982) departed from NASA.

1982-93:

President and Vice-Chairman of Space Services Inc.; (1983) Space Service Inc. formed a joint company with American Science and Technology and Aero Data Corporation to become Space America Inc, with Slayton as Chairman and Director.

13 Jun 1993:

Died from a brain tumor, aged 69, at home in League City, Texas. His autobiography Deke: US Manned Space, From Mercury to the Shuttle, written with Michael Cassutt, was published posthumously in 1994.

 

 

Deke SLAYTON Space Flight Missions

Mission

Vehicle

Position

Dates

DD/MM/YYYY

Duration

DD:HH:MM:SS

Orbits

EVAs

ASTP

Saturn 1B

Docking Module Pilot

15/07/1975-24/07/1975

09:01:28:24

137

0

      

Missions Flown:

1

Total Flight Time:

09:01:28:24

137

0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Space Explorer Achievements

Crewmember, first joint US-Russian space flight mission

Last of NASA's Group 1 'Original Seven' Mercury astronauts to fly in space, 16 years after selection

At the time of his ASTP flight, he was the oldest person to fly in space (51 years 4 months 14 days)
US ASTP mission patch
the original seven NASA astronauts are seen examining a model of the Atlas launch vehicle, with Slayton holding the model up for inspection
The Mercury Seven astronauts are shown gathered around a table looking at a model of the Atlas launch vehicle. (Standing l to r) Al Shepard, Wally Schirra, John Glenn. (Seated l to r) Gus Grissom, Scott Carpenter, Deke Slayton and Gordon Cooper.
The crew of Gemini 3 gather around a table to examine a map of their planned orbital track with Chief Astronaut Slayton
After being grounded due to medical issues, Slayton would become Director of Flight Crew Operations, responsible for assigning crews to their space flights. Here (2nd left), he is seen in discussion with the Gemini 3 crew of John Young (left) and Gus Grissom (2nd from right) as they examine a map of their planned orbital track.
Slayton and several astronauts are gathered at the consoles in mission control during the Apollo 13 crisis in April 1970
Slayton and several astronauts are seen at the consoles in Mission Control during the Apollo 13 crisis in April 1970. (L to r) Slayton (seated, Director FCOD), Ken Mattingly (standing, who had been removed from Apollo 13 after being exposed to a case of measles); Vance Brand (standing, Shift 2 Capcom), Jack Lousma (seated, Shift 3 Capcom), John Young (seated, BUp Apollo 13 CDR).
Official crew photo of the American crew for Apollo-Soyuz in 1975 (Slayton, Brand, Stafford)
Having been returned to flight status in 1972, Slayton was assigned to the Apollo 18 crew that formed the US half of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). (L to r) Slayton (DMP), Vance Brand (CMP), Tom Stafford (CDR).
Slayton and Tom Stafford are seen in the classroom attending Russian language classes
As part of their training for ASTP, the crew spent time learning the Russian language and visiting the Soviet Union for training. Here, Slayton and Tom Stafford are seen attending a Russian language class.
Slayton is seen floating through the docking module heading into the Soyuz spacecraft during ASTP in 1975.
Sixteen years after his selection, Slayton finally made it into orbit, the last of the Original Seven Mercury astronauts to do so. Here, he is floating through the docking module into the Soyuz 19 spacecraft during ASTP. Slayton would spend just over 90 minutes in the Soyuz during the mission.
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