In 1924, Deke (Donald) Slayton, NASA
astronaut and Chief of Flight Operations at Johnson Space Center, was born.
Mr. Slayton was named one of the Mercury astronauts in 1959 and was originally scheduled to pilot the Mercury-Atlas 7 mission but was relieved of this assignment later that year due to a heart condition. In 1962, he became Coordinator of Astronaut Activities. In 1963, he resigned his commission as an Air Force Major to assume the role of Director of Flight Crew Operations.
Learn more at http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/slayton.html
