Gordon Fullerton

Retired NASA Astronaut, Research Test Pilot Gordon Fullerton Dies
“C. Gordon Fullerton, who compiled a distinguished career as a NASA astronaut, research pilot and Air Force test pilot spanning almost 50 years, died Aug. 21. He was 76. Fullerton had sustained a severe stroke in late 2009, and had been confined to a long-term care facility in Lancaster, Calif., for most of the past 3 1/2 years. Fullerton logged 382 hours in space flight on two space shuttle missions while in the NASA astronaut corps from 1969 to 1986. He then transferred to NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, where he served for 22 years as a research test pilot on a variety of high-profile projects. During the latter years of his career at NASA Dryden, he served as Associate Director of Flight Operations and as chief of the directorate’s flight crew branch prior to his retirement at the end of 2007.”

Keith’s note: I can clearly recall seeing Gordon Fullerton’s antics in the portion of this video that starts at 09:48. I worked at Rockwell Downey at the time and my co-workers did all of the company’s launch and landing photography. They were complaining for weeks about having to take all of their cameras apart to get the gypsum dust out after the landing at White Sands.