Slayton, Donald K. (Donald Kent), 1924-1993
Biographical Note
One of the first seven American astronauts, Donald Kent "Deke" Slayton was born on March 1, 1924, in Sparta, Wisconsin, to Charles Sherman and Victoria Adelia (nee Larson) Slayton. He was a senior at Sparta High School when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, which caused him to join the U. S. Army Air Forces. During World War II, he flew for the 340th Bombardment Group in Europe and the Pacific. Slayton earned a B.S. in aeronautical engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1949. He then worked for Boeing before joining the United States Air Force, serving with the 36th Fighter Day Wing and as a test pilot.
In 1959, Slayton was selected for the Mercury program, NASA's first class of astronauts, but was disqualified upon discovery of a heart condition but continued to work in several positions for NASA. After a reevaluation of his medical status, he was certified for space flight, and in July 1975, Slayton was the docking module pilot for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, resulting in a joint docking and experiments with Soviet cosmonauts. Following the completion of this project, Slayton continued to work for NASA until his retirment in 1982. He later founded Space Services Inc., of Houston, to develop rockets for commercial endeavors.
Slayton married Marjorie Lunney, and they had a son, Kent Sherman, in 1957, prior to divorcing. He married Bobbie Osborn on October 8, 1983. Slayton died of brain cancer on June 13, 1993, in League City, Texas.
External Sources:
"Biographical Data" [for Deke Slayton, NASA Astronaut], Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), June 1993, https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/slayton_donald.pdf, accessed June 16, 2023.
Gray, Tara, "Donald K. 'Deke' Slayton", 40th Anniversary of the Mercury 7 (NASA), https://history.nasa.gov/40thmerc7/slayton.htm, accessed June 16, 2023.