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Donn Eisele

Donn EISELE

PROFILE

Full Name:

Donn Fulton EISELE.

Rank:

Colonel, USAF (Deceased).

Born:

23 June 1930, in Columbus, Ohio, USA (American).

Died:

2 December 1987, aged 57, from a heart attack while on a business trip to Tokyo, Japan.

Education:

1948: Graduated from West Senior High School, Columbus, Ohio.

 

1952: BSc degree from the US Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland.

 

1960: MSc degree in Astronautics from the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB), Ohio.

Career Highlights:

- Jun 1952: Graduated USN Academy; (Jun 1952) chose a USAF career and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant.

 

Jun 1952 - Feb 1954: Completed flight training at Goodfellow AFB, Texas, Williams AFB, Arizona and Tyndall AFB, Florida; ( ) promoted to Lieutenant, USAF.

 

Feb 1954 - Mar 1958: Interceptor pilot, Ellsworth AFB, Rapid City, South Dakota; (Mar 1958) promoted to Captain, USAF.

 

Mar 1958 - 1960: Student of engineering, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio; earned Masters degree in Astronautics.

 

1960 - Nov 1961: Rocket Propulsion and Aerospace Engineer (Weapons), Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

 

Nov 1961 - Jun 1962: Student, USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS), Edwards AFB, California.

 

Jun 1962 - ?: Instructor at ARPS, Edwards AFB, California.

 

? - Jan 1964: Flight commanding officer, project engineer and experimental test pilot at the Air Force Special Weapons Center, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico; flew experimental test flights in support of special weapons development programmes.

 

Eisele logged more than 4,200 hours flying time, of which 3,600 hours were in jets.

 

 

NASA ASTRONAUT ASSIGNMENTS

1963:

(18 Oct) Selected as a Pilot Astronaut for NASA Group 3 ("The Fourteen"); (  ) Major, USAF.

1964:

(15 Jan) Reported to MSC Houston for NASA assignment; basic training; (8 Jul) assigned to the Astronaut Office (Code CB) Operations and Training Branch (headed by Neil Armstrong) where his speciality area was in attitude and transitional control systems.

1965:

(16 Feb) Reassigned to the Apollo Branch Office (headed by Dick Gordon), receiving new speciality assignments in the Apollo CSM and LM; (late) learned he would be assigned early in 1966 to the first crewed Apollo mission (with Gus Grissom and Ed White) as Pilot (LMP), planned for late 1966.

1966:

(Jan) During weightless flying at Wright-Patterson AFB he dislocated his left shoulder; the injury was serious enough for him to be removed from the Grissom crew (replaced by Roger Chaffee); (  ) reassigned as CMP to the second crewed Apollo mission (with Wally Schirra and Walt Cunningham); (29 Sep) named Senior Pilot (CMP) Apollo 2; Apollo mission training; (17 Nov) Apollo 2 is cancelled as an unnecessary repeat of Apollo 1; (22 Dec) named with Schirra and Cunningham to the back-up (BUp) crew of Apollo 1 as BUp Senior Pilot (CMP); Apollo mision training.

1967:

Apollo mission training; (27 Jan) participated in launch simulations of Apollo 1, Pad 34, KSC; late afternoon, he flew back to MSC and upon arrival was told of the loss of the prime crew in a fire on the launch pad; (30 Jan) assigned to Block II Wiring Investigation Team, Apollo 204 Review Board; (4 Feb) observer to the Advisory Group, Apollo 204 Review Board; (9 May) named CMP Apollo 7; Apollo mission training.

1968:

Apollo mission training; (11-22 Oct) flew as Command Module Pilot (CMP) Apollo 7 (10 days 20 hrs 9 min), first crewed Apollo mission (Earth orbit); (  ) promoted to Lt. Colonel, USAF; (13 Nov) named as BUP CMP Apollo 10; Apollo mission training.

1969:

Apollo mission training; (May) BUP CMP Apollo 10.

1970:

(Jun) Reassigned to NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, as Technical Assistant.

1971:

Technical Assistant, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia.

1972:

Technical Assistant, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia; (Jul) resigned from NASA and retired from the USAF with the rank of Colonel.

 

 

POST-ASTRONAUT EXPERIENCE

1972-74:

Director of the US Peace Corps, Thailand.

1974-79:

Eastern Sales Manager, Marion Power Shovel Company, a division of Dresser Industries, Williamsburg, Virginia.

1979-:

Executive Vice President, Trans Carib Air, Washintgon, D.C.

1981-:

Drexel Burnham Lambert, Tamarac, Florida.

1982-:

Handled private and corporate accounts for the investment firm Oppenheimer & Company.

 

In financial services industry with Prudential Bache Securities, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

1987:

Owner of a private consultation firm - Space Age America; (2 Dec) died aged 57 of a heart attack during a business trip to Tokyo, Japan; his company was in consultation with Nippon Steel; buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.

 

 

Donn EISELE Space Flight Missions

Mission

Vehicle

Position

Dates

DD/MM/YYYY

Duration

DD:HH:MM:SS

Orbits

EVAs

(HH:MM)

Apollo 7

Saturn 1B

Command Module Pilot

11/10/1968-22/10/1968

10:20:09:03

163

0

      

Missions Flown:

1

Total Flight Time:

10:20:09:03

163

0

      

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[Apollo 7][Schirra][Cunningham]
group portrait of the third NASA astronaut selection group from 1963
Donn Eisele was selected in the third NASA Astronaut Group in 1963 (as was Apollo 7 crewmate Walt Cunningham). Back row l to r: Mike Collins, Cunningham, Eisele, Theodore Freeman, Dick Gordon, Rusty Schweickart, Dave Scott and Clifton 'CC' Williams. Front row l to r: Buzz Aldrin, Bill Anders, Charles Bassett, Al Bean, Gene Cernan and Roger Chaffee.
Image courtesy of NASA.
The Apollo 7 crew poses for a group photo during training in 1968
The Apollo 7 crew poses for a crew photograph during water egress training aboard the USS Retriever  in August 1968. (L to r) Donn Eisele (CMP), Walt Cunningham (LMP) and Wally Schirra (CDR). Image courtesy of NASA.
Donn Eisele is photgraphed during suiting up procedures prior to launch on Apollo 7
Technicians assist Eisele during suiting up procedures on launch day for Apollo 7. Note the inner and outer gloves and the 'Snoopy cap' inner communications helmet.
Image courtesy of NASA.
the apollo 7 mission lifts off from Cape Kennedy on 11 October 1968.
The Apollo 7 Saturn 1B rocket carrying Schirra, Eisele and Cunningham lifts off from Launch Complex 34 at the Kennedy Space Center at 11:03 am on 11 October 1968. Image courtesy of NASA.
Command Modue Pilot Donn Eisele photographed aboard Apollo 7
Command Module Pilot (CMP) Donn Eisele is photgraphed onboard the spacecraft early in the mission. Later images would show several days worth of beard growth on all three crew members. Image courtesy of NASA
A smiling, if tired, Apollo 7 crew greets the sailors aboard the prime recovery ship USS Essex, having been retrieved from their spacecraft at the end of a '101% successful' Apollo 7 mission. (L to r) Schirra (waving), Eisele, Cunningham. Image courtesy of NASA.
Apollo 7 mission emblem
the apollo 7 crew stands aboard the prime recovery vessel at the end of their mission