C. Gordon Fullerton
A test pilot who flew the Space Shuttle and then landed it like a glider, pushing the boundaries of atmospheric flight.
1936–2013 (age 77)·American astronaut·Birthday: October 11·The Silent Generation
Biography
C. Gordon Fullerton's career was a masterclass in cool-handed precision at the edge of the envelope. An Air Force colonel, he entered NASA as part of the 1966 astronaut class, but his lasting impact came not from orbital missions, but from his work as a research pilot. He flew two Space Shuttle missions, including the third and final test flight of Columbia, which demonstrated the vehicle was ready for operational duty. Yet his most daring work happened inside Earth's atmosphere. Fullerton was the project pilot for the shuttle carrier aircraft, the modified 747 that ferried orbiters across the country. More crucially, he piloted the Enterprise during the Approach and Landing Tests, the first free flights of the Shuttle, guiding the unpowered, 100-ton craft to a perfect deadstick landing. After leaving the astronaut corps, he continued at Dryden as a research pilot, flying a mind-bending array of experimental aircraft, from the B-52 launch platform to the F-104. He was a flyer's flyer, a man who made the impossible look routine.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
C. was born in 1936, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When C. Was Born
The biggest hits of 1936
#1 Movie
San Francisco
Best Picture
The Great Ziegfeld
C.'s Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1936Born
Jesse Owens wins four golds at the Berlin Olympics
Gas: $0.19/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"The Way You Look Tonight" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: The Great Ziegfeld
1941Started school
Pearl Harbor attack brings the US into WWII
Gas: $0.19/galHome: $3,060Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Chattanooga Choo Choo" — Glenn MillerBest Picture: How Green Was My Valley
1949Became a teenager
NATO founded; Mao proclaims the People's Republic of China
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Riders in the Sky" — Vaughn MonroeBest Picture: All the King's Men
1952Could drive
Queen Elizabeth II ascends the throne
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,350Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Blue Tango" — Leroy AndersonBest Picture: The Greatest Show on Earth
1954Could vote
Brown v. Board of Education desegregates US schools
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $8,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Little Things Mean a Lot" — Kitty KallenBest Picture: On the Waterfront
1957Turned 21
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1966Turned 30
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1976Turned 40
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1986Turned 50
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1996Turned 60
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2006Turned 70
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
2013Died at 77
Edward Snowden reveals NSA surveillance programs
Gas: $3.53/galHome: $152,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Thrift Shop" — Macklemore & Ryan LewisBest Picture: 12 Years a Slave
Key Achievements
- Piloted the Space Shuttle Enterprise during its first free-flight Approach and Landing Tests in 1977.
- Served as pilot for the third Space Shuttle mission (STS-3) and commander of the STS-51F Spacelab mission.
- Logged over 380 hours in space across his two shuttle flights.
- Flew over 135 different types of aircraft during his career as a test and research pilot.
- Received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal and the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross.
Did You Know?
He flew the Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft with the orbiter Enterprise on top from Edwards AFB to Kennedy Space Center for the launch of STS-1.
During the STS-51F mission, a main engine shut down early, leading to an 'Abort to Orbit'—a scenario he and his crew handled successfully.
He was an avid ham radio operator, using the call sign N6AWT.
Before becoming an astronaut, he served as a flight test engineer and pilot on the B-52 Stratofortress.
“Flying the shuttle to a dead-stick landing is just a long, quiet conversation with the machine.”
