Deke Slayton Research Paper

Deke Slayton, born march 1924 in a small town in Wisconsin, was the single most determined astronaut ever to launch through the earth’s atmosphere. Deke was a trained fighter pilot who flew many missions in World War 2. With this background he was a sought after pilot that readily agreed to join the flight program. Deke was not the type to sit around, but he was the type who liked to goof off and pull jokes on other members of the team. Sometimes his jokes would get him in trouble. But there were many roadblocks in his way before he would fulfill his dream.
Deke’s ego was as large as the planes he flew, but there was one experience he had that changed that. He was flying a F-105 at 1,200 MPH across the vast California dessert as he made
a tight baking turn the plane started spinning out of his control. He tried countless maneuvers attempting to regain control of the aircraft. They all failed, he then reached for the ejection handle, but being strapped tightly in his seat. “He couldn’t reach the ejection handle. He was trapped in the airplane.” He then remembered the speed breaks. Hitting the control for the breaks, the plane slowed so that the “violent oscillations” stopped and the plane was now back in his control. This incident slightly tamed his ego, but his future had more instore for him.
As Deke Slayton was training for an upcoming flight one of NASA’s doctors noticed an ill regular heartbeat. At first Slayton didn’t understand the severity of his condition. After going through a battery of test he was deemed unable to fly any more missions. Slayton was devastated, the only thing he had been working towards for many months was ended because of an ill regular heartbeat. The other astronauts in trained convinced NASA to place Slayton in charge of choosing, and training the astronauts for all the missions. He agreed, and became a great leader and motivator for the other astronauts.
Being the astronaut organizer gave him an in depth knowledge of NASA and an increased respect for the people he worked with. As Slayton was working he developed a nasty cold. The doctor prescribed a steep dose of vitamins, this healed his cold. Nearly a year later he was still taking the vitamins, and also wearing a machine that tracked his heart rate. The machine recorded a perfect heart. Slayton then went back to the doctors that had grounded him, but they said it was not possible to be healed from his condition. Frustrated, he went to the top flight doctor for NASA. After going through much testing he was given the thumbs up, he was ready to fly. NASA told him he could not until a place opened up, six years down the road. He would be too old to fly by then. But a placed opened up on a joint mission with Russia. He and two other Americans would meet in space with a duo of Russian cosmonauts. Their two space ships would dock to each other in the first joint mission ever. Slayton was ecstatic, all this time his best friends were flying to space and experiencing 0g’s. He wanted this experience, and he would get it on July 15, 1975 at the age of 50.
Deke’s life was full of ups and downs, he always worked hard for what he wanted, when something stood in his way, no matter the size he knocked those barriers down and push on to his end goal. Whether it be landing an F-105 or piloting a rocket he completed the task. He learned by experience that he could not let his ego get the best of him, and to keep level heading in any situation. Only time and experiences can change a big ego fighter pilot to a humble astronaut.