C. Gordon Fullerton

C. Gordon Fullerton

Charles Gordon Fullerton (born October 11, 1936) is a retired United States Air Force officer, a former USAF and NASA astronaut and retired research pilot at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, California. His assignments include a variety of flight research and support activities piloting NASA's B-52 launch aircraft, the Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), and other multi-engine and high performance aircraft. Fullerton, who has logged more than 380 hours in space flight, was a NASA astronaut from September 1969 until November 1986 when he joined the research pilot office at Dryden. In July 1988, he completed a 30-year career with the U.S. Air Force and retired as a Colonel. He continued in his position of research pilot as a civilian.

Fullerton and his wife and their two children live in Lancaster, California.

According to an Associated Press story, Fullerton suffered a massive stroke on December 31, 2009 and was recovering at a facility in Southern California that specializes in stroke treatment.