Donald K. “Deke” Slayton

Slayton was named as one of the Mercury astronauts in April 1959. Mr. Slayton made his first space flight as Apollo docking module pilot of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission—a joint space flight culminating in the first historical meeting in space between American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts. Slayton retired from NASA in 1982.

Quick Facts

Slayton was named as one of the Mercury astronauts in April 1959.

He was originally scheduled to pilot the Mercury-Atlas 7 mission but was relieved of this assignment due to a heart condition discovered in August 1959.

Slayton made his first space flight as Apollo docking module pilot of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) mission, July 15-24, 1975.

Portrait of Deke Slayton taken in 1959 — NASA Project Mercury astronaut — Slayton was later known as Deke.

S74-15240 (December 1973) — Astronaut Donald K. Slayton
NASA

September 13, 1968: “FIRST ASTRONAUT TEAM: Project Mercury Astronauts, whose selection was announced on April 9, 1959, only six months after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was formally established on Oct. 1, 1958, Included: Front row, left to right, Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Donald K. Slayton, John H. Glenn, Jr., and M. Scott Carpenter; back row, Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom and L. Gordon Cooper. (1962), *89-361 Also in B&W. This copy of original negative was edited without shadows in the background. Photo taken at NASA Langley Research Center by Life Magazine photographer and negative copied for other centers.

AST-05-298 (17-19 July 1975) — Astronaut Donald K. Slayton and cosmonaut Aleksey A. Leonov are seen together in the Soyuz Orbital Module during the joint U.S.-USSR Apollo-Soyuz Test Project docking mission in Earth orbit. Slayton is the docking module pilot of the American crew. Leonov is the Soviet crew commander. This picture was taken with a 35mm camera.

AST-05-290 (17-19 July 1975) — Astronaut Donald K. Slayton, docking module pilot of the American ASTP crew, is seen in the hatchway leading between the Apollo Docking Module and the Soyuz Orbital Module during the joint U.S.-USSR Apollo-Soyuz Test Project docking mission in Earth orbit. The 35mm camera was looking from the Soyuz into the Docking Module.

Biography

Donald K. (Deke) Slayton

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(21 Aug. 1965) — View of Mission Control Center at Cape Kennedy, Florida, moments after the Gemini-5 spacecraft was launched from Pad 19 on Aug. 21, 1965. Standing at right is astronaut Donald K. Slayton, assistant director for Flight Crew Operations, Manned Spacecraft Center. Seated (wearing dark shirt) is astronaut Russell L. Schweickart. Other NASA and McDonnell Aircraft Col. personnel also monitor the progress of the flight.

NASA

Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

The first international partnership in space wasn’t the International Space Station. It wasn’t even the Shuttle-Mir series of missions. It was the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the first international human spaceflight.

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