26. America's first astronauts were nicknamed as the "Mercury Seven", after the name of the country's first manned spaceflight programme. Who was the only member of this first group of astronauts NOT to fly a Mercury mission?
From Quiz Hi Ho Quicksilver!!
Answer:
Deke Slayton
In January 1959, Donald Kent "Deke" Slayton, a US Air Force test pilot, was selected as one of the first group of seven astronauts. In the same year, during a centrifuge run, doctors noticed that Slayton had a slightly irregular heartbeat, and was diagnosed with Idiopathic Atrial Fibrillation, although he was kept on flight status. Selected to fly Mercury's second orbital mission in mid-1962, Slayton began preparing for the flight he planned to name as 'Delta 7'. However, two months prior to launch, he was replaced by his back-up, Scott Carpenter. Although initially disqualified from the one flight, NASA's management elected to keep him medically disqualified. To compensate, he was first made Chief Astronaut, serving as the link between the astronauts and management, before being appointed as Director of Flight Crew Operations, responsible for overseeing all aspects of the training and crew selection of astronauts. In 1971, after several years of trying different treatments for his heart condition, Slayton was examined by doctors at the Mayo Clinic, having not suffered any irregular fibrillation for some time. This examination cleared him to return to flight status, and he finally flew in space as the Docking Module Pilot of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975.