[ad_1]
Donn Eisele was an astronaut on Apollo 7, the first mission of the Apollo moon program. Although Apollo 7 remained in Earth orbit, the mission was a milestone for the program as it tested the ship's command module prior to its upcoming Apollo 8 mission to the Moon.
Eisele was born in Columbus, Ohio on June 23, 1930. Holder of a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1952, he chooses a career in the United States. air force, according to his biography of NASA. He then graduated from the Aerospace Air Force Flying School at Edwards Air Force Base in California and earned a Master of Science in Astronautics in 1960 from the Air Force Institute of Air Force. Technology.
Eisele then worked as an experimental test pilot and project engineer at the Air Force Special Weapons Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico.
In 1963, Eisele went on to run for the third class of NASA astronauts. [What It’s Like to Become a NASA Astronaut: 10 Surprising Facts]
In personal notes discovered after Eisele's death, he wrote that he had studied extensively for the selection and that he had become familiar with the technical details of the Gemini spacecraft, the main space program of the time.
"I had come to Houston with my brain full of technical stuff and data on aeronautics and spaceflight," wrote Eisele. His notes formed the basis of his posthumous dissertation, "Apollo Pilot" (University of Nebraska Press, 2017).
Eisele's hard work paid off and he was chosen to become an NASA astronaut in October 1963.
Donn Eisele, photographed during the Apollo 7 mission.
Credit: NASA
NASA experience
NASA chose Eisele and two other astronauts, Walt Cunningham and Wally Schirra, to fly on Apollo 7. The mission arrived at a crucial moment for NASA as the agency was still trying to recover from the tragic accident of the day. Apollo 1 who killed three astronauts in January 27, 1967.
NASA had since reviewed the command module and certified Apollo 7, ready for flight. Nevertheless, Schirra, the commander of the mission, insisted that the mission plan be as simple as possible, so that it is easy to prioritize security.
Apollo 7 was launched without incident on October 11, 1968, but the mission quickly became difficult when Schirra caught a cold in orbit. It is unclear whether the three crew members became ill, but Schirra's disease undoubtedly had an effect on Apollo 7's operations. Schirra canceled a scheduled television show and its members The crew complained of having too many tasks to accomplish.
The crew's complaints eclipsed what would otherwise have been a successful mission. Apollo 7 has achieved all of its major goals and Eisele has participated in many of them. His biography of NASA indicates that he performed maneuvers allowing the crew to practice docking procedures for landings on the moon. The crew also tested the propulsion engine of the service module and measured the performance of the spacecraft systems. And they still managed to complete several TV shows from space – the first crew to do it.
For Mission Control Director Chris Kraft, the most frustrating part of the Apollo 7 mission was when the crew refused to wear their helmet when they returned to Earth, as Kraft describes it in his memoir "Flight : My Life In Mission Control "(Dutton, 2001). The crew stated that they wanted to avoid eardrums due to congestion, but that they also risked injury or death if the cabin suddenly depressurized.
The crew returned to Earth on October 22, 1968. Kraft stated that he did not want any of the crew members to fly back into space. Schirra had already planned to retire and Cunningham and Eisele never went back into space, although Eisele served as a backup control module driver for Apollo 10.
By the time Eisele retired from the Air Force and left NASA in 1972, he had totaled 4,200 flying hours and 260 hours in space.
Apollo 7 crewmen, from left to right: Walter M. Schirra Jr., Commander; Walter Cunningham, pilot of the lunar module; and Donn F. Eisele, driver of the control module.
Credit: NASA
After NASA
After his stint at NASA, Eisele acted as director of the US Peace Corps in Thailand, according to his NASA biography. He then held the position of Sales Manager for Marion Power Shovel Co., a major construction equipment manufacturer, and a director of private and corporate accounts at Oppenheimer & Co., an investment bank.
Eisele died of a heart attack on December 2, 1987, at the age of 57, during a business trip to Tokyo, according to NASA. He is survived by his second wife, Susan Eisele Black, his two children with Susan and four children from a previous marriage.
Years after the death of Eisele, space historian Francis French discovered a draft memoir written by Eisele. Eisele's widow, Susan, encouraged French to publish and publish Eisele's manuscript. When she read the final version, she told French "that if her late husband was back from death and was talking to him," reported the San Diego Union-Tribune.
French told the San Diego Union-Tribune that writing Eisele's memoir, titled "Apollo Pilot", was "totally a work of love." At the request of the Eisele family, all proceeds from the book are donated to a library program in Florida.
[ad_2]
Source link
