“Dammit bubba, I tell ya, these thangs sure are cute.” Gus Grissom and Deke Slayton take some time out to become buddies with a chipmunk, early 1960s.
I got this from the great Insert Space Here Tumblr. We vintage picture freaks at This Space Available highly recommend this awesome archive. Gus and Deke were best friends in the astronaut corps, and when Gus lost his life in the Apollo 1 fire Deke was extremely distraught for a long time afterwards (well, obviously…). I love this picture of these two badasses cuddling up to this tiny, sweet animal.
I wish these guys were still around to reminisce about their days as the baddest men in the astronaut corps. That would have been one heck of a collaborative book.
Picture courtesy of Life Magazine and Insert Space Here.
Emily Carney is a writer, space enthusiast, and creator of the This Space Available space blog, published since 2010. In January 2019, Emily’s This Space Available blog was incorporated into the National Space Society’s blog. The content of Emily’s blog can be accessed via the This Space Available blog category.
Note: The views expressed in This Space Available are those of the author and should not be considered as representing the positions or views of the National Space Society.
2 thoughts on “Gus n’ Deke, BFFs, Part I: “BUBBA, I THINK THIS IS A CHIPMUNK””
So happy to know I'm not the only one who loves these two. <3
I wrote a story about them – it's very sad though:
http://www.kittysneezes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=483:ad-astra-per-aspera-gus-and-deke-fiction&catid=22:fiction&Itemid=31
Next story I am gonna do something like a road trip 🙂 These guys were awesome!