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Donald Kent Slayton

Donald Kent Slayton

Male 1924 - 1993  (69 years)  Submit Photo / DocumentSubmit Photo / Document


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  • Name Donald Kent Slayton 
    Nickname Deke 
    Born 1 Mar 1924  Sparta, Monroe, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Christened 11 May 1924  Cashton, Monroe, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Donald Kent Slayton Baptism
    Donald Kent Slayton Baptism
    Donald Kent Slayton Baptism, He's Number 53 On The List
    Gender Male 
    Also Known As He started to be called by his nickname when he was a test pilot. He worked with another pilot named Don. Slayton began to be referred to by his initials, D.K. This eventually shortened to "Deke." 
    Census 1950 
    1950 Slayton.
    1950 Slayton.
    1950 US census, Seattle, King, Washington, enumeration district 40-388, Line Number 14, Slayton, living as a lodger in the Berry household.
    Military Service U.S. Army Air Corps, WWII Find all individuals with events at this location 
    He flew 56 combat missions with the 340th Bomb Group, 486th Bomb Squadron. 
    Slayton WWII.
    Slayton WWII.
    Slayton (right) in front of a Douglas A-26 bomber.
    Donald Kent Slayton
    Donald Kent Slayton
    Donald Kent Slayton
    Occupation "Deke" was one of the first seven men to be selected as an astronaut. Unfortunately he was found to have a minor heart palpitations and he was grounded from space flight. He continued working for NASA as a manager.

    On March 13, 1972 his regiment of health care and exorcise eliminated his heart issue and he was restored to flight status. On July 15, 1975 he lifted off in an Apollo spacecraft as part of the Apollo-Soyuz test project. 
    Mercury 7.
    Mercury 7.
    The "Mercury 7" were the first seven Americans selected to be astronauts. Front row, left to right: Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Donald K. "Deke" Slayton, John H. Glenn, Jr., and M. Scott Carpenter; back row, Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, and L. Gordon Cooper, Jr.
    Slayton NASA Manager.
    Slayton NASA Manager.
    Donald Slayton (center left) goes over the Gemini III mission with Astronauts Young and Grissom and Ken Nagler of the U.S. Weather Bureau.
    Apollo XI Pre-Launch.
    Apollo XI Pre-Launch.
    At the pre-launch breakfast Donald Slayton discusses the location of recovery ships and communications sites to be used during the mission. With him are astronauts Bill Anders, Armstrong, Collins, Aldrin.
    Apollo XIII.
    Apollo XIII.
    Mission Control Center during the Apollo 13 oxygen cell failure. Seated at consoles, from left to right, are Astronaut Donald K. Slayton, Director of Flight Crew Operations; Astronaut Jack R. Lousma, Shift 3 spacecraft communicator; and Astronaut John W. Young, commander of the Apollo 13 back-up crew. Standing, left to right, are Astronaut Tom K. Mattingly, who was replaced as Apollo 13 command module pilot after it was learned he may come down with measles, and Astronaut Vance D. Brand, Shift 2 spacecraft communicator.
    Apollo XIII Repair.
    Apollo XIII Repair.
    Slayton, director of flight crew operations (center), explains the improvised repair that Apollo XIII astronauts will have to preform in order to survive aboard their crippled spacecraft.
    Apollo-Soyuz Test Program Patch.
    Apollo-Soyuz Test Program Patch.
    Apollo–Soyuz was the first crewed international space mission.
    Deke Slayton.
    Deke Slayton.
    Deke Slayton. At the launch of the Apollo-Soyuz mission he was 51 years old making him the oldest astronaut at the time.
    Apollo-Soyuz Crews.
    Apollo-Soyuz Crews.
    Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford (standing on left), commander of the American crew; cosmonaut Aleksey A. Leonov (standing on right), commander of the Soviet crew; astronaut Donald K. Slayton (seated on left), docking module pilot of the American crew; astronaut Vance D. Brand (seated center), command module pilot of the American crew; and cosmonaut Valeriy N. Kubasov (seated on right), engineer on the Soviet crew.
    Apollo-Soyuz Test Saturn 1B.
    Apollo-Soyuz Test Saturn 1B.
    Apollo-Soyuz Test, Saturn 1B rocket waits on the launch pad.
    Apollo-Soyuz American Lift-Off.
    Apollo-Soyuz American Lift-Off.
    Apollo-Soyuz American Lift-Off.
    Apollo-Soyuz Soviet Lift-Off.
    Apollo-Soyuz Soviet Lift-Off.
    Apollo-Soyuz Soviet Lift-Off.
    Soyuz Spacecraft.
    Soyuz Spacecraft.
    Soyuz Spacecraft as photographed from the Apollo capsule.
    Apollo Spacecraft with Docking Module.
    Apollo Spacecraft with Docking Module.
    Apollo Spacecraft with Docking Module as photographed by the Soyuz crew. The docking module adapted the two different spacecraft together. It was carried into space by the Americans in the same fashion as the lunar lander had been by earlier Apollo missions.
    Apollo Soyuz Docking.
    Apollo Soyuz Docking.
    Artist conception of the two space craft about to dock. The Apollo astronauts spent 9 days 1 hour and 28 minutes in space. The Soyuz crew spent 5 days 22 hours and 30 minutes in space. They spent 47 hours and 7 minutes docked together.
    Slayton-Leonov.
    Slayton-Leonov.
    Astronaut Donald K. Slayton and cosmonaut Aleksey A. Leonov together in the Soyuz Orbital Module. Slayton was the docking module pilot and Leonov is the Soviet crew commander.
    Apollo Capsule Returns.
    Apollo Capsule Returns.
    Apollo Capsule Returns.
    Apollo Capsule Recovery.
    Apollo Capsule Recovery.
    Navy divers work to secure the capsule. The astronauts remained in the capsule until it was hoisted aboard the recovery ship, the USS New Orleans.

    At the end of the flight noxious nitrogen tetroxide fumes from the command module's control thrusters was accidently sucked into the cabin during landing. The crew was hospitalized as a precaution. While there a lesion was discovered on Slayton's lung and removed. Had it been found before the mission it likely would have resulted in him being grounded a second time causing him to miss this opportunity.
    Space Shuttle Transport.
    Space Shuttle Transport.
    Slayton was assigned to the Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) of the Space Shuttle program. The ALT program developed the Space Shuttle Enterprise which was never meant as a spacecraft it was just a testbed for atmospheric flight and landings. He also assisted in developing the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft which was a modified 747.

    He retired in 1980, but continued to serve in an advisory role for STS-1, and flew a T-38 chase plane during the landing of STS-2. He formally left NASA on February 27, 1982. In this photo he is the pilot of the T-38 chase plane as the shuttle Columbia is delivered to the Kennedy Space Center.
    U.S - Soviet Joint Space Mission.
    U.S - Soviet Joint Space Mission.
    U.S - Soviet Joint Space Mission. Runtime 53 seconds.
    Died 13 Jun 1993  League City, Galveston, Texas Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Donald Slayton Death
    Donald Slayton Death
    Green Bay Press-Gazette (Green Bay, Wisconsin), 14 Jun 1993, Monday, Page 9
    Donald Slayton Obituary
    Donald Slayton Obituary
    Rutland Daily Herald (Rutland, Vermont), 14 Jun 1993, Monday, Page 2
    Siblings
    1. Howard C Slayton,   b. 7 Jun 1925, Sparta, Monroe, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 7 Apr 2007, Leon, Monroe, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location
     
    Person ID I57083  Nagel
    Last Modified 29 Jan 2021 

    Father Charles Sherman Slayton,   b. 16 Oct 1887, Leon, Monroe, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 29 Sep 1972, Sparta, Monroe, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 84 years) 
    Relationship Birth 
    Mother Victoria Adele Larson,   b. 22 Feb 1895, Monroe County, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 14 Mar 1970, Sparta, Monroe, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 75 years) 
    Relationship Birth 
    Family ID F16743  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Marjory Colleen Lunney,   b. 8 Nov 1921, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 19 Feb 1989, Houston, Harris, Texas Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 67 years) 
    Married 8 May 1955 
    Divorced 11 Jul 1983  Harris County, Texas Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Kent Sherman Slayton,   b. 8 Apr 1957  [Birth]
    Last Modified 29 Jan 2021 
    Family ID F16744  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 2 Bobbie Belle Jones,   b. 3 Jan 1945, Cairo, Coal, Oklahoma Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 19 Nov 2010, League City, Galveston, Texas Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 65 years) 
    Married 8 Oct 1983  Galveston County, Texas Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Last Modified 28 Jan 2021 
    Family ID F16745  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart