Editing C. Gordon Fullerton (section)

==Biography==

===Early years and education===
Born October 11, 1936, in [[Rochester, New York]], Fullerton graduated from [[Grant High School (Portland, Oregon)|Ulysses S. Grant High School]], [[Portland, Oregon]], in 1953.<ref name=oregonian2013>{{cite news |last=Bailey Jr. |first=Everton |title=Astronaut, former Portlander, dies at 76<!--(print-edition headline)--> |newspaper=[[The Oregonian]] |date=August 22, 2013 |location=Portland, Oregon |page=B3 |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2013/08/former_portland_resident_astro.html |accessdate=August 24, 2013}}</ref> He received [[Bachelor of Science]] and [[Master of Science]] degrees in [[mechanical engineering]] from the [[California Institute of Technology]], [[Pasadena, California]], in 1957 and 1958, respectively.<ref name="cs" />

===Air Force career===
Fullerton entered the U.S. Air Force in July 1958 after working as a mechanical design engineer for [[Hughes Aircraft Company]], [[Culver City, California]].<ref name="cs" />

After primary and basic flight school, he was trained as an [[North American F-86 Sabre|F-86]] interceptor pilot, and later became a [[Boeing B-47 Stratojet|B-47]] bomber pilot at [[Davis-Monthan Air Force Base]], [[Arizona]]. In 1964 he was chosen to attend the Air Force [[Aerospace Research Pilot School]] (now the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School), [[Edwards Air Force Base]], California. Upon graduation he was assigned as a test pilot with the Bomber Operations Division at [[Wright-Patterson Air Force Base]], [[Ohio]]. In 1966, Fullerton was selected for and served as a flight crew member for the Air Force [[Manned Orbiting Laboratory]] (MOL) program until its termination in 1969.<ref name="cs" />

===NASA career===
{{multiple image
 | align = right
 | direction = vertical
 | width = 200
 | header = 
 | image1 = Haise i Fullerton podczas programu Approach and Landing Test GPN-2000-001421.jpg
 | alt1 = 
 | caption1 = Fullerton (right) alongside [[Fred Haise]], one of the [[Approach and Landing Tests|ALT]] crews
 | image2 = STS-51-F crew.jpg
 | alt2 = 
 | caption2 = The crew of the STS-51-F mission with Fullerton seated in the foreground
 | image3 = Astronaut Fullerton Suited for Training Exercises on KC-135 - GPN-2002-000147.jpg
 | caption3 = Fullerton (in spacesuit) training aboard a [[KC-135]] "zero-gravity" aircraft in 1981
}}
Fullerton was part of [[NASA Astronaut Group 7]] in September 1969 after the cancellation of the MOL program. After assignment to the NASA Johnson Space Center as an astronaut, Fullerton served on the support crews for the [[Apollo 14]], [[Apollo 15|15]], [[Apollo 16|16]], and [[Apollo 17|17]] lunar missions.<ref name="cs" />

In 1977, Fullerton was assigned to one of the two-man flight crews which piloted the Space Shuttle prototype ''[[Space Shuttle Enterprise|Enterprise]]'' during the [[Approach and Landing Tests]] Program at Dryden that same year.<ref name="nasabio" />

Fullerton was the pilot on the eight-day [[STS-3]] [[Space Shuttle]] orbital flight test mission March 22–30, 1982. Launched from the [[Kennedy Space Center]], [[Florida]], the mission exposed the orbiter ''[[Space Shuttle Columbia|Columbia]]'' to extremes in thermal stress and tested the {{convert|50|ft|m|adj=on}} [[Canadarm]] used to grapple and maneuver payloads to orbit.<ref name="cs" /> STS-3 landed at [[Northrup Strip]], [[White Sands, New Mexico]], because [[Rogers Dry Lake]] at Edwards AFB was wet due to heavy seasonal rains.<ref name="cs" />

Fullerton was commander of the [[STS-51-F]] "Spacelab 2" mission, launched from Kennedy Space Center on July 29, 1985. This mission, with the orbiter ''[[Space Shuttle Challenger|Challenger]]'', was the first pallet-only [[Spacelab]] mission and the first to operate the Spacelab Instrument Pointing System (IPS). It carried 13 major experiments in the fields of astronomy, solar physics, ionospheric science, life science, and a super fluid helium experiment. The mission ended August 6, 1985, with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base.<ref name="nasabio" />

===Research test pilot career===
Fullerton served as project pilot on the NASA/[[Convair 990]] aircraft which has been modified as a Landing Systems Research Aircraft to test Space Shuttle landing gear components.<ref name=Biographies /> Additionally, Fullerton was also project pilot on [[McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet|F-18]] Systems Research Aircraft, a test bed to develop new flight control actuators, fiber optic control systems, and other advanced aircraft technology.<ref name=Biographies />

As the project pilot on the [[Propulsion Controlled Aircraft]] program, he successfully landed an [[F-15 Eagle|F-15]] and an [[MD-11]] with all control surfaces fixed, using only engine thrust modulation for control.<ref name=Biographies /><ref name="nasabio" />

In addition to these activities, Fullerton was a project pilot on a number of other research programs at Dryden. Among them were the [[C-140]] Jetstar Laminar Flow Control, [[General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark|F-111]] Mission Adaptive Wing, [[F-14]] Variable Sweep Flow Transition, Space Shuttle orbiter drag chute and F-111 crew module parachute tests with the [[Boeing B-52 Stratofortress|B-52]], and [[X-29]] vortex flow control.<ref name=Biographies /> As project pilot on the B-52 launch aircraft, Fullerton was involved in tests to develop a new F-111 crew module recovery system. He also flew the B-52 for the first six mid-air launchings of the commercially developed [[Pegasus rocket|Pegasus space vehicle]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-120913a.html|title=Orbital names next space station freighter for late pilot-astronaut|publisher=collectSPACE.com |date=December 9, 2013}}</ref> 

Fullerton was one of two NASA pilots who flew the Russian-built [[Tupolev Tu-144|Tu-144LL]] supersonic aircraft used in a joint high speed research program.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/photo/TU-144LL/HTML/EC98-44749-27.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000412171316/http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/TU-144LL/HTML/EC98-44749-27.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 12, 2000|title=Research Pilot C. Gordon Fullerton in Cockpit of TU-144LL SST Flying Laboratory|publisher=NASA DFRC}}</ref>

With over 16,000 hours of flying time, Fullerton piloted 135 different types of aircraft, including full qualification in the [[T-33 Shooting Star|T-33]], [[T-34 Mentor|T-34]], [[T-37 Tweet|T-37]], [[North American T-39 Sabreliner|T-39]], F-86, [[F-101]], [[F-106]], F-111, F-14, X-29, [[KC-135]], C-140, and B-47.<ref name="cs" /> After joining Dryden as a research pilot, Fullerton piloted nearly all the research and support aircraft flown at the facility, including the [[Northrop T-38 Talon|T-38]], F-18, F-15, B-52, NASA/Convair 990, 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, and the [[DC-8]].<ref name=Biographies />

===Later years and death===
Fullerton retired in 2007.<ref name=oregonian2013 />  He suffered a [[stroke]] in 2009 and was cared for in a facility in [[Lancaster, California]], where he died from complications on August 21, 2013, aged 76.<ref name="cs">{{Cite web |url=http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-082113b.html |title=Gordon Fullerton, space shuttle test pilot, dies at 76 |accessdate=August 21, 2013 |publisher=collectSPACE |year=2013 |author=Robert Z. Pearlman}}</ref>