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Author
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Topic: More Mishegas
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Duke Of URL Member Posts: 1316 From: Syracuse, NY Registered: Jan 2005
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posted 06-27-2005 12:03 PM
I'm confused further. Shepard has been quoted in several places as saying that he and Slayton had control of crew selection. Slayton has said he wouldn't pick someone with whom - please note my snazzy grammar! - Flight Control (read: Chris Kraft)wouldn't work, referring to Eisele and Cunningham. Slayton was quoted another time about Kraft swearing Carpenter would never fly again, saying with a fair amount of emphasis, "It wasn't his decision."So what's the what? (Nicholas Cage said that in "Face Off") Was Deke Slayton Il Capo De Tutti Capi of crew selection or not? |
quantumleap Member Posts: 46 From: Newmarket, Ontario, Canada Registered: Apr 2005
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posted 06-27-2005 01:13 PM
Deke Slayton did have control over the crew selections which were submitted to NASA senior management for approval. They were of course able to reject them if they felt there was an issue with them.From various sources, Slayton was seen as a very astute and capable manager, so I'm sure he would not bring forward names he would see as being problematic as that would reflect back on him as well. |
Duke Of URL Member Posts: 1316 From: Syracuse, NY Registered: Jan 2005
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posted 06-27-2005 04:01 PM
But was the approval pro-forma or with input? |
KC Stoever Member Posts: 1012 From: Denver, CO USA Registered: Oct 2002
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posted 06-27-2005 04:37 PM
They were pro forma by the time the decision got to Gilruth's desk, by the mid-1960s. The interesting thing is that Kraft/Schefter maintain Kraft played a fearsome role in crew selection, a role that had become legendary by the time Cassutt began researching DEKE! So legendary in fact that Cassutt says, here on cS, that he put the question to Deke directly, I think though just with respect to Carpenter. Slayton poo-pooed Kraft's role. But that was re: Carpenter, by July 1964 moot, given Carpenter's grounding injury. What was Kraft's role in other crew selections? It's been about three years since I read those sections of FLIGHT. But I recall very specific (and rather preening) Kraft anecdotes regarding specific astronauts. Of course, I don't put much store by FLIGHT. . . . It's all very murky--the process--that requires more research. And it's weird, in a way. Shepard and Slayton, both Mercury alums. Both grounded by idiopathic maladies. Together deciding who could/should/would fly the missions. Very interesting psychologically, the roles they played. |
J_Geenty New Member Posts: From: Registered:
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posted 06-28-2005 04:35 AM
From what I have read and heard about Eisele and Cunningham I tend to believe that if circumstances had been right, Deke would have assigned them to other missions. Eisele was given the 10 BCMP slot since it needed experience at that time and if he had worked his tail off and shown real dedication there is every chance he might have ended up rotating to a CMP position. Problem is he didn't work hard enough, had his divorce and ended up being asked to leave. But if Deke had wanted him to fly and felt he had worked for it, I'm not sure he would have let Kraft be the deciding factor. Same with Cunningham, if Apollo 18 and 19 had flown then chances are good that Cunningham would have flown as CDR of a Skylab mission. The fact that he was named as the original Skylab backup CDR suggests that Deke had him in mind as a potential CDR of any fourth manned mission to Skylab anyway. I'd be interested to know how the other flight directors felt about Eisele and Cunningham, since Kraft hadn't actually worked a mission as Flight Director since the middle of the Gemini Program (bar Apollo 1). If it was known that they had no problem, would that have weakened Kraft's opposition? It might be that Kraft's statement about Cunningham and Eisele never flying again because he said so is another case of post hoc ergo proctor hoc... | |
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