Remembering Deke Slayton
13 June was the anniversary of the death of Deke Slayton. Mercury 7 astronaut, Director of Flight Crew Operations and belated space traveller on the final Apollo Mission — ASTP.
In tribute to him, here’s an overview of an alternate Deke Slayton, inspired by his qualities of bravery, fearlessness and leadership.
Apollo SL76B was the fourth crewed flight to the American space station, Skylab II. The mission began on April 9, 1976; with the launch of three astronauts in the Apollo command and service module on the Saturn I+ rocket, and lasted 126 days. The crew performed scientific experiments in the fields of space plasma physics, astronomy and Earth observation. At launch, Mission Commander Deke Slayton was the longest serving astronaut in the world, having been selected as one of the Mercury Seven in 1959.
The flight also saw the first recovery of a rocket stage after a crewed launch. Following main engine cut off (MECO), the S-I+ stage descended to Earth before landing under parachutes off the Florida coast. It was recovered and towed back to Cape Canaveral. While it was not reused, 4 of the H-1A engines and components from the thrust structure were flown again.
