Word: slaytons
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
More than any other astronaut, Cooper displayed his bitterness at being passed over on earlier space flights. Yet when NASA doctors grounded Astronaut Donald Slayton because of a heart flutter, Cooper threatened to quit the program. After the fifth U.S. man-in-space flight, a superb six-orbit job by Wally Schirra, there were reports that last week's flight would be flown by Alan Shepard. Schirra, a close friend of Cooper's, put an end to that: he threatened to raise a public ruckus if Cooper were bypassed...
Cooper nearly lost his chance to go into orbit when he became enraged at the decision last year to ground Astronaut Donald K. ("Deke") Slayton because of a reported heart flutter. Cooper offended high NASA officials by vehemently protesting the decision, threatened to quit if Slayton were not reinstated. He was persuaded not to 'bail out of the program by Astronaut Walter Schirra, who made the near-perfect six-orbit flight in October...
When Schirra learned that Cooper's chances for the big flight had been endangered because of his defense of Slayton, he made it clear that the slight (5 ft. 9 in., 150 Ibs.) former fighter pilot was his choice for the mission. What was more, Schirra, an outspoken man himself, threatened to take Cooper's case to the press if Cooper were ruled...
With deep regret, NASA Project Mercury Boss Robert Gilruth announced that he was clipping the wings of one of his astronauts. Because of an "erratic heartbeat," Air Force Captain Donald ("Deke") Slayton, 38, was no longer eligible for a solo ride into space. The doughty Deke will be reassigned to "operational and planning" duties on the ground, though he might take a ride on a rocket as second or third man in future Gemini and Apollo shots...
...million Manned Spacecraft Center that will be their headquarters by 1964 wheeled the seven Mercury astronauts. By way of welcome, 150,000 Texans lined a 1½-mile route as the seven-John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Walter Schirra, Alan Shepard, Virgil Grissom, Leroy Cooper and Donald Slayton-drove by with their families. To Walt Schirra, hundreds held up six fingers for the number of orbits he is to make in the next U.S. space flight. The parade led to the Sam Houston Coliseum for a neighborly cookout at which 1,500 chickens, 2,000 Ibs. of spareribs...