This page no longer updated from 31 October 2001. Latest version can be found at www.astronautix.com

astronautix.com Eisele


Donn Fulton Eisele Status: Deceased. Trained as: Astronaut. Profession: Pilot. Sex: Male. Marital Status: Married. Children: Six. Birth Date: 30 June 1930. Birth City: Columbus. Birth State: Ohio. Birth Country: USA. Nationality: American. Date of Death: 01 December 1987. Cause of Death: Natural causes - Heart attack. Group: 1963 NASA Group. Date Selected: 17 October 1963. Departed: 1972. Number of Flights: 1. Total Time: 10.84 days.

NAME: Donn F. Eisele

BIRTHPLACE AND DATE: Eisele was born June 23, 1930, in Columbus, Ohio.

EDUCATION: Eisele received a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautics from the U.S. Naval Academy and a Master of Science degree in aeronautics from the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology.

EXPERIENCE: After graduation Eisele entered the Air Force. He flew jet fighters and became a test pilot, advancing to the rank of colonel.

NASA selected Eisele as an astronaut in October 1963. On October 11, 1968, he, Commander Walter Schirra and Lunar Module pilot Walt Cunningham were launched aboard Apollo 7 - the first flight test of the redesigned Apollo after the first crew died in the Apollo 1 launch pad fire on January 27, 1967. The flight was a complete success and provided NASA with confidence to send the next Apollo crew, into orbit around the moon. However the crew suffered head colds and had numerous arguments with ground controllers. NASA management secretly decided that none of them would be allowed to fly in space again.

In 1972, Eisele retired from the Air Force and left NASA to become director of the U.S. Peace Corps in Thailand. He later became sales manager for Marion Power Shovel Company and then handled private and corporate accounts for the investment firm of Oppenheimer and Company. Eisele died of a heart attack on December 2, 1987, in Tokyo, Japan.


Flight Log


Back to Index
Last update 3 May 2001.
To contact astronauts or cosmonauts.
Contact Mark Wade with any corrections or comments. Cosmonaut data by Alexander B. Zheleznyakov.

Conditions for use of drawings, pictures, or other materials from this site..
© Mark Wade, 2001 .