Donald Kent “Dick” Slayton ( Donald Kent “Deke” Slayton ; March 1, 1924 , Sparta, Wisconsin - June 13, 1993 , , Texas ) is an American astronaut .
| Dick slayton | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Deke slayton | |||
 NASA Astronaut | |||
| A country |  USA | ||
| Specialty | Bomber pilot, test pilot , aviation engineer | ||
| Military rank |  Major (  Air Force ) | ||
| Expeditions |  EPAS ( 1975 ) | ||
| Time in space | 9 d 1 h 28 m 24 s | ||
| Date of Birth | March 1, 1924 | ||
| Place of Birth | Sparta, Wisconsin , USA | ||
| Date of death | June 13, 1993 (69 years old) | ||
| A place of death | League City, Texas , USA | ||
| Autograph | |||
| Awards |
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Content
- 1 Biography
- 1.1 "Mercury"
- 1.2 "Union — Apollo"
- 1.3 Space Shuttle
- 1.4 After NASA
- 2 Awards
- 3 References
Biography
On the day of his eighteenth birthday, March 1, 1942 , Donald Slayton enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and began to learn flying.
In April 1943, Slayton received the rank of pilot and was sent to the front in Europe . From 1943 to 1944, Slayton participated in the fighting as a pilot of the B-25 bomber . In mid-1944, Slayton returned to America and continued to serve as an instructor pilot. In April 1945, Slayton again went to the front, on the island of Okinawa , where he participated in military operations against Japan . After the end of World War II, Slayton continued to serve as an instructor pilot.
In 1946, Slayton left military service and entered the University of Minnesota. In 1949, Slayton received a bachelor 's degree in aeronautics and was hired by the Boeing Corporation in Seattle .
In 1951, Donald Slayton enlisted in the Air Force of the Minnesota National Guard. For some time, Slayton served in Germany , in the city of Bitburg .
On May 15, 1955, Slayton married Marjorie Lunney.
In June 1955, Slayton returned to the United States and began his service at the Edwards Air Force Base in California . From January 1956 to April 1959, Slayton served as a test pilot.
Mercury
On April 9, 1959, Donald Slayton was included in the first seven US astronauts.
Initially, Slayton was supposed to make the fourth suborbital flight on the ship "Mercury-Redstone-6." This flight was planned for the fall of 1961 . However, after two successful orbital flights by Soviet cosmonauts, Yuri Gagarin in April 1961 and German Titov in August 1961, the number of planned suborbital flights was reduced to three, and Slayton was supposed to make the first American orbital space flight. After two successful American suborbital flights that were made by Alan Shepard and Virgil Grissom , NASA leadership also refused the third planned suborbital flight, which John Glenn was supposed to make. On November 29, 1961, John Glenn was appointed pilot for the first American orbital flight on the Mercury Atlas-6 ship (MA-6), and Slayton was appointed pilot for the second orbital flight on the Mercury Atlas-7 ship (MA-7) ) The flight of MA-6 was to take place in December 1961, and the flight of MA-7 in April 1962 .
Slayton named his spaceship "Delta 7" ( Delta 7 ). On March 15, 1962, Slayton was removed from space for medical reasons due to heart problems . On May 24, 1962, instead of Slayton, Scott Carpenter went into space in the Mercury Atlas 7 spacecraft, who renamed his ship Aurora 7 .
Donald Slayton was the only astronaut from the first seven who did not make a space flight at that time.
Slayton remained at NASA and performed administrative work. He was the head of the astronaut bureau for the Mercury , Gemini, and Apollo projects. In 1963, Slayton resigned from the US Air Force, but remained at NASA as NASA's deputy crew training director. Slayton was in charge of crew selection. He chose astronauts who were supposed to go on another space flight, and astronauts who were supposed to land on the moon .
Union Apollo
Slayton did not give up hope for space flight. He maintained his physical fitness and monitored his health. In the summer of 1970, it was found that he no longer had any heart problems. After a comprehensive medical examination, in March 1972, Donald Slayton was again admitted to space flight.
On February 9, 1973, Donald Slayton, together with Thomas Stafford and Vance Brand , was assigned to the crew of the Apollo spacecraft for the joint Soviet-American space project Soyuz Apollo (EPAS). A two-year flight preparation followed. At that time, Slayton was in the Soviet Union several times and studied the Russian language .
The flight of the Apollo ship under the EPAS program took place from July 15 to July 24, 1975 . Slayton was 51 years old, and at that time he became the oldest astronaut (in 1983 he was surpassed by William Thornton ).
During the flight, the Apollo docked with the Soviet Soyuz-19 ship. American astronauts met in orbit: Thomas Stafford, Donald Slayton and Vance Brand and Soviet cosmonauts: Alexei Leonov and Valery Kubasov . The Apollo and Soyuz-19 ships were in docked state for 44 hours. The ship "Apollo" splashed in the Pacific Ocean , near the Hawaiian Islands . The flight duration of the Apollo was 217 hours and 28 minutes. It was the first joint Soviet-American project in space.
Of the first seven American astronauts, Donald Slayton later than all made his first space flight: he had been preparing for it for more than 16 years.
Space Shuttle
Since December 1975, Donald Slayton led the tests of the US-made space shuttle . Tests were conducted on the Enterprise Shuttle in California .
From November 1977 to February 1982, Slayton was the shuttle flight planning and training manager.
After NASA
In 1982, Slayton left NASA. He became president of the private firm Space Services Inc., which was engaged in the design of rockets for small payloads.
Donald Slayton died June 13, 1993 at the age of 69 from a brain tumor.
Rewards
In 1969, Slayton was awarded the NASA Medal of Excellence . Included in the Astronaut Hall of Fame .