Reviews for Deke!: U.S. Manned Space: From Mercury to the Shuttle

The average rating for Deke!: U.S. Manned Space: From Mercury to the Shuttle based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-01-14 00:00:00 Barbara Sweeton As one of the original seven Mercury astronauts, Deke Slayton was there from the beginning. Unfortunately he was grounded due to a heart condition, but stepped in as director of flight crew operations. This book is unique among astronaut autobiographies because Slayton was there for every flight, from Alan Sheperd's first flight to the maiden voyage of the Space Shuttle. He was eyewitness witness to all of the historical events from Ed White's spacewalk to Gene Cernan stepping off the moon for the last time. He was on the administrative side of the astronaut office, but was an astronaut himself. This unique position allowed him to have a unique perspective on early manned space flight, and the stories he's able to tell are some of the most interesting I've read in an astronaut memoir. Sadly, Slayton died before the book was finished, which I think accounts for some of the missing details. For example, I've read a few other astronaut autobiographies, and as expected, the missions those astronauts flew were described in great detail. Slayton was grounded for over ten years, and was finally selected to fly the Apollo-Soyuz flight with the Soviets. However, the description of the flight itself was pretty minimal, and was fairly operational. It's a shame that Slayton waited so long to record his story, because I'd like to hear more. Slayton is one of the most important figures in the history of manned space flight, and this is an essential addition to my growing astronaut autobiography collection.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-11-19 00:00:00 Ma Nic "Deke!" by Donald K. "Deke" Slayton and Michael Cassutt * * * * * This is the story of astronaut Deke Slayton, one of the original seven Mercury astronauts, and his years with NASA. Told in his own words and in the voices of the men and women who worked with him and knew him best, here in words and pictures is the story of his years as a test pilot, his struggle to fly into space, his work training the astronaut corps, his involvement in the designing of the Lunar Landing Module, and his work with Space Services. Highly recommended.