Glove, Right, Mercury, Slayton, Training

This glove is part of the pair made for astronaut Donald "Deke" Slayton for use during the Mercury missions of the early 1960s, however, it was never flown. One of the original Mercury Seven astronauts, Slayton was the only one who did not fly in space during the Mercury project. During the process of selction and training, doctors discovered that he had a slight heart murmur. Although the murmur did not disqualify him from the program, NASA managers opted to cancel his flight. Slayton later flew in space on board the Apollo spacecraft that docked with a Soviet Soyuz for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in July 1975.

Deke Slayton used this spacesuit for training. It is likely that NASA resued the suit after the Mercury Project for testing. The gloves were constructed of an inner layer made from a mold of the astronaut's hand, dipped in a rubber compound. The outer layer was fabricated of one-way stretch nylon with neoprene-impregnated palms and lacing on the back. The gloves assumed the contours of the hand controller, and attached to the suit with a ball-bearing lock mechanism.

NASA transferred the suit to the museum in the late 1960s.