MAJOR DONALD "DEKE" SLAYTON - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 03/22/1972 - HFSID 156807

DONALD K. "DEKE" SLAYTON
Donald K. Slayton signs a typed letter of thanks for the telegram and hopes to go into the space shuttle at a later date.
Typed Letter Signed: "Deke" as Director of Flight Crew Operations, 1p, 8x10½. Houston, Texas, 1972 March 22. On letterhead of National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Manned Spacecraft Center to Mr. B.G. MacNabb, General Electric, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. MacNabb used to work at NASA. In full: "Thank you very much for your kind telegram. Let's plan on you and I going for a ride in the Shuttle one of these days. I will gladly return all your cigars with interest for the opportunity to do that. We greatly appreciate all your support over the years, and hope to eventually merit it. Also, my thanks to Walt Smith. Hope to see you in the near future. Best wishes." In the month he signed this letter, Donald K. "Deke" Slayton (1924-1993), one of the seven original Project Mercury astronauts, was certified to be medically eligible for manned space flights. Slayton, who had been grounded due to an irregular heartbeat, would made his first and only trip into space (at age 51) as the Apollo docking module pilot of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) mission (which also included American crew members Thomas Stafford and Vance Brand) in the first joint U.S.-U.S.S.R. joint space venture (July 15-24, 1975). While he was grounded, Slayton served as Coordinator of Astronaut Activities (1962-1963) before resigning from the U.S. Air Force (he was a veteran WWII bomber pilot) to become Director of Flight Crew Operations (in these positions, Slayton was involved in choosing the crews for nearly all the Gemini and Apollo missions). After his 217 hour and 28 minute journey into space, Slayton became Manager for Approach and Landing Test Project (1975-1977) before serving as Manager for Orbital Flight Test until his retirement from NASA in 1982. In his later positions, Slayton directed a number of operations for NASA's space shuttle program, but he never flew any shuttle missions. Lightly creased with folds, not at signature. Mounting stains on verso, light show through at upper margin, touching return address. Overall, fine condition.