Deke Slayton Donald Kent Slayton ( March 1 , 1924 – June 13 , 1993 ) , better known as Deke Slayton , was an American World War II pilot , one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts , and a NASA administrator . After joining NASA , Slayton was selected to pilot the second U . S . manned orbital spaceflight , but was grounded in 1962 by a heart murmur . He then served as NASA ' s director of flight crew operations , making him responsible for crew assignments at NASA from November 1963 until March 1972 . At that time he was granted medical clearance to fly , and was assigned as the docking module pilot of the 1975 Apollo – Soyuz Test Project , becoming the oldest person to fly in space at age 51 . This record was surpassed in 1983 by 53 year old John Young and in 1998 by his fellow Project Mercury astronaut John Glenn , who at the age of 77 flew on Space Shuttle mission STS - 95 . Biography . Early life and education . Slayton was born on a farm near Sparta , Wisconsin . A childhood farm equipment accident left him with a severed left ring finger . He attended elementary school in Leon , Wisconsin and graduated from Sparta High School . He entered the United States Army Air Forces as a cadet in 1942 , training as a B - 25 bomber pilot . He flew 56 combat missions with the 340th Bombardment Group over Europe during World War II and later flew seven combat missions over Japan in a Douglas A - 26 Invader as part of the 319th Bombardment Group . After the war , Slayton earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical engineering from the University of Minnesota , in 1949 . Slayton became a test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base in California . He tested supersonic Air Force fighters , including the F - 101 , F - 102 , F - 105 , and F - 106 , and was responsible for determining stall - spin characteristics for the large F - 105 , which became the principal fighter bomber used by the USAF over North Vietnam . Mercury Seven . Slayton was chosen as one of the original seven American astronauts in 1959 . He was scheduled to fly in 1962 on the second orbital flight ( to have been named " Delta 7 " , the name coming from the mission being the fourth spaceflight — the fourth letter in the Greek alphabet and the seven astronauts ) , but because of an erratic heart rate ( idiopathic atrial fibrillation ) , he was grounded in September 1962 , and his place was taken by Scott Carpenter aboard " Aurora 7 " . Slayton was the only member of the Mercury Seven who did not fly in the Mercury program . He was one of the eight Paresev pilots . Gemini and Apollo selection . When NASA grounded Slayton , the Air Force followed suit . Slayton resigned his Air Force commission in 1963 and worked for NASA in a civilian capacity as head of astronaut selection . Unofficially called " chief astronaut , " he had the decisive role in choosing the crews for the Gemini and Apollo programs , including the decision of who would be the first person on the Moon . In 1972 , Slayton was awarded the Society of Experimental Test Pilots James H . Doolittle Award . Apollo – Soyuz flight . A long medical program led to Slayton being restored to full flight status in 1972 , when he was selected as docking module pilot for the Apollo – Soyuz Test Project , a docking between the American Apollo spacecraft and the Soyuz spacecraft of the Soviet Union . On July 17 , 1975 , the two craft joined up in orbit , and astronauts Slayton , Thomas Stafford and Vance D . Brand conducted crew transfers with cosmonauts Alexey Leonov and Valeri Kubasov . At the end of the flight , an erroneous switch setting led to the introduction of noxious fumes into the Apollo cabin during landing , and the crew was hospitalized as a precaution in Honolulu , Hawaii , for two weeks . During hospitalization , a lesion was discovered on Slayton ' s lung and removed . It was determined to be benign . After the Apollo – Soyuz flight , he became head of the Approach and Landing Tests for NASA ' s space shuttle program . Retirement . Slayton retired from NASA in 1982 . After retirement , he served as president of Space Services Inc . , a Houston - based company earlier founded to develop rockets for small commercial payloads . He served as mission director for a rocket called the Conestoga , which was successfully launched on September 9 , 1982 , and was the world ' s first privately funded rocket to reach space . Slayton also became interested in aviation racing . Slayton penned an autobiography with space historian Michael Cassutt entitled " Deke ! : U . S . Manned Space from Mercury to the Shuttle " . As well as Slayton ' s own astronaut experiences , the book describes how Slayton made crew choice selections , including choosing the first person to walk on the Moon . Numerous astronauts have noted that only when reading this book did they learn why they had been selected for certain flights decades earlier . Slayton ' s name also appears with three other co - authors , including fellow astronaut Alan Shepard , on the book " Moon Shot : The Inside Story of America ' s Race to the Moon " , published in 1994 . The book was also made into a documentary film of the same name . Slayton died before either " Moon Shot " project was finished or released , and the book did not receive any input from him . However , the film was narrated from Slayton ' s point of view ( voiced by Barry Corbin ) and includes a brief tribute to him at the very end . Personal life . Slayton was a friend of fellow astronaut Gus Grissom . He married Marjorie " Marge " Lunney in 1955 , and they had one son , Kent Sherman . They eventually divorced , and Slayton later married Bobbie Belle Jones ( 1945 – 2010 ) . They remained married until his death . Shortly after he moved to League City , Texas , in 1992 , Slayton was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor . He died from the illness on June 13 , 1993 . Awards . Slayton ' s other awards include - The Collier Trophy ; the SETP Iven C . Kincheloe Award ; the Gen . Billy Mitchell Award ; the SEPT J . H . Doolittle Award ( 1972 ) ; the National Institute of Social Sciences Gold Medal ( 1975 ) ; the Zeta Beta Tau ’ s Richard Gottheil Medal ( 1975 ) ; the Wright Brothers International Manned Space Flight Award ( 1975 ) ; the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Space Award ( 1976 ) ; the American Heart Association ’ s Heart of the Year Award ( 1976 ) ; the District 35 - R Lions International American of the Year Award ( 1976 ) ; the AIAA Special Presidential Citation ( 1977 ) ; the University of Minnesota ’ s Outstanding Achievement Award ( 1977 ) ; the Houston Area Federal Business Association ’ s Civil Servant of the Year Award ( 1977 ) ; the AAS Flight Achievement Award for 1976 ( 1977 ) ; the AIAA Haley Astronautics Award for 1978 ; honorary doctorate in Science from Carthage College , Carthage , Illinois , in 1961 ; honorary doctorate in Engineering from Michigan Technological University in Houghton , Michigan , in 1965 . Legacy . With the other Mercury astronauts , Slayton was awarded the Collier Trophy in 1962 for " ' for pioneering manned space flight in the United States . ' " Slayton was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1996 . The Texas Oncology - Deke Slayton Cancer Center ( located on Medical Center Blvd . in Webster , Texas ) was named in his honor in 2000 . The main stretch of road in League City , Texas , FM 518 , was renamed Deke Slayton Highway . The Deke Slayton Memorial Space & Bicycle Museum in Sparta , Wisconsin , was named in his honor . The Slayton biographical exhibit includes his Mercury space suit , his Ambassador of Exploration Award , which showcases a lunar sample , and more . In nearby La Crosse , Wisconsin , an annual summer aircraft air show , the Deke Slayton Airfest , has been held in his honor , featuring modern and vintage military and civilian aircraft , along with NASA speakers .