Donn Eisele was an American astronaut who flew on the Apollo 7 mission in 1968. He was born in Columbus, Ohio on June 23, 1930. Eisele received a bachelor’s degree in military science from the United States Naval Academy in 1952 and a master’s degree in astronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1963.
Eisele was selected as an astronaut by NASA in October 1963 and served as a member of the astronaut support crew for the Gemini 4 and Gemini 5 missions. He was then assigned as the pilot of the Apollo 7 mission, which was the first manned test flight of the Apollo spacecraft.
The Apollo 7 mission was launched on October 11, 1968 and lasted for just over 10 days. During the mission, Eisele and his crewmates, Walter Schirra and Walter Cunningham, conducted a number of scientific experiments and tested the spacecraft’s systems and capabilities.
After completing the Apollo 7 mission, Eisele retired from NASA and the military in 1972. He later worked as a business executive and died on December 2, 1987 at the age of 57. Eisele was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997.