Donn F. Eisele

Donn Fulton Eisele ( born June 23, 1930 in Columbus, Ohio, USA, † December 2, 1987 in Tokyo, Japan ) was an American astronaut who participated only once on a space flight.

Eisele was the first test pilot and was selected with the third group of astronauts in 1963 by NASA. On October 11, 1968, he started with Walter Schirra and Walter Cunningham with a Saturn -1B rocket into space. Eisele was pilot of the mission, which had the aim to test the Apollo spacecraft in space. After 260 hours and 46 minutes of flight Apollo 7 landed on 22 October safely in the Atlantic. He was still in the backup crew of Apollo 10 in 1972 before he left NASA.

On 2 December 1987 Eisele died of a heart attack while he was on a business trip to Japan. He is survived by his wife Susan and their two children, as well as common four children from a previous marriage.

Special features and Records

  • Virgin pilot of the Apollo program
Columbus (Ohio) Buzz Aldrin William Anders Frank Borman Michael Collins (Astronaut) Pete Conrad Edward Gibson Richard F. Gordon, Jr. Fred Haise James Irwin Joseph P. Kerwin Edgar Mitchell Deke Slayton Thomas P. Stafford Paul J. Weitz Alfred Worden
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