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Slayton

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1962 May. (Cancelled flight). Call Sign: Delta 7. Crew: Slayton. Backup Crew: Schirra. Program: Mercury. Astronaut Deke Slayton was to have been the second American in orbit. When Slayton was selected as an astronaut in 1959, it was known he had a minor heart fibrillation. This however did not prevent him from being an Air Force test pilot or being selected as an astronaut. But on January 23, 1962 John Glenn's wife refused to do a television appearance with Vice President Lyndon Johnson after a launch scrub of Glenn's mission. Soon thereafter rumours began in McNamara's Pentagon that Glenn had a secret heart condition. It was not Glenn, and his flight went as planned, but in the process Slayton's heart fibrillation came up. After a series of quick developments, Slayton was told he couldn't fly, and was forced to appear at a press conference making that announcement on March 16. The action was seen by many as a warning to the astronauts who was really in charge, although Slayton didn't think there was a direct cause and effect. Slayton's three orbit flight would have been called Delta 7. Instead Carpenter was selected for the mission, and Schirra, Slayton's backup, was moved to the Mercury 8 flight.

• - 1962 May - Mercury MA-7 Delta 7 (cancelled)  Crew: Slayton. Spacecraft: Mercury. Payload: Mercury SC18.

  Astronaut Deke Slayton was to have been the second American in orbit. On March 16, 1962, it was announced that Slayton was grounded - due to a minor heart fibrillation known to NASA when they selected him to be an astronaut. Slayton's three orbit flight would have been called Delta 7. Instead Carpenter was selected for the mission, and Schirra, Slayton's backup, was moved to the Mercury 8 flight.

• Cassutt, Michael and Slayton, Deke, Deke! U.S. Manned Space: from Mercury to the Shuttle, Tom Doherty Associates, New York, 1994. ISBN: 031285918X. Absolutely the best astronaut biography - full inside details on the personalities of the US astronauts from the one who knew them all - and decided who would go to the moon. More at amazon.com...