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Haise Commands First Enterpr …
Title Haise Commands First Enterprise Test Flights
Full Description The first crew members for the Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) are photographed at the Rockwell International Space Division's Orbiter Assembly Facility at Palmdale, California. The Shuttle Enterprise is Commanded by former Apollo 13 Lunar Module pilot, Fred Haise (left) with C. Gordon Fullerton as pilot. The Shuttle Orbiter Enterprise was named after the fictional Starship Enterprise from the popular 1960's television series, Star Trek.
Date 09/17/1976
NASA Center Johnson Space Center
C. Gordon Fullerton
Photo Date 1989
C. Gordon Fullerton
Title C. Gordon Fullerton
Description C. Gordon Fullerton is a research pilot at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. His assignments include a variety of flight research and support activities piloting NASA's B-52 launch aircraft, the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), and other multi-engine and high performance aircraft. Fullerton, who has logged 382 hours in space flight, was a NASA astronaut from September 1969 until November 1986 when he joined the Flight Crew Branch at Dryden. In July 1988, he completed a 30-year career with the U.S. Air Force and retired as a colonel. As the project pilot on the NASA B-52 launch aircraft, Fullerton flew during the first six air launches of the commercially developed Pegasus space vehicle. He was involved in a series of development air launches of the X-38 Crew Recovery Vehicle and in the Pegasus launch of the X-43A Hyper-X advanced propulsion project. Fullerton also flies Dryden's DC-8 Airborne Science aircraft, regularly deployed worldwide to support a variety of research studies, including atmospheric physics, ground mapping and meteorology. In addition to these current activities, Fullerton has been involved in numerous other research programs at Dryden. He was the project pilot on the Propulsion Controlled Aircraft program, during which he successfully landed both a modified F-15 and an MD-11 transport with all control surfaces neutralized, using only engine thrust modulation for control. Assigned to evaluate the flying qualities of the Russian Tu-144 supersonic transport during two flights in 1998, he reached a speed of Mach 2 and became one of only two non-Russian pilots to fly that aircraft. He piloted a Convair 990 modified to test space shuttle landing gear components during many very high-speed landings. Other projects for which he has flown in the past include the C-140 JetStar Laminar Flow Control, F-111 Mission Adaptive Wing, F-14 Variable Sweep Flow Transition, Space Shuttle drag chute and F-111 crew module parachute tests with the B-52, X-29 vortex flow control, and the F-18 Systems Research Aircraft. With more than15,000 hours of flying time, Fullerton has piloted 135 different types of aircraft, including full qualification in the T-33, T-34, T-37, T-38, T-39, F-86, F-101, F-104, F-106, F-111, F-14, F-15, X-29, KC-135, C-140, B-47, and he currently flies the F/A-18, B-52, DC-8, B-747, and T-34C. Born Oct. 11, 1936, in Rochester, N. Y., Fullerton graduated from U.S. Grant High School, Portland, Ore. He earned bachelor of science and master of science degrees in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, in 1957 and l958, respectively. Fullerton entered the U. S. Air Force in July 1958 after working as a mechanical design engineer for Hughes Aircraft Co., Culver City, California. After flight school, he was trained as an F-86 interceptor pilot, and later became a B-47 bomber pilot at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Ariz. In 1964 he was selected to attend, the Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School (now the Air Force Test Pilot School), Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Upon graduation he was assigned as a test pilot with the Bomber Operations Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio. Fullerton served as a flight crew member for the Air Force Manned Orbiting Laboratory program from 1966 through1969. After assignment to the NASA Johnson Space Center, as an astronaut Fullerton served on the support crews for the Apollo 14, 15, 16, and 17 lunar missions. In 1977, Fullerton was assigned to one of the two two-man flight crews that piloted the Space Shuttle prototype Enterprise during the Approach and Landing Test Program at Dryden. Fullerton was the pilot on the eight-day STS-3 Space Shuttle orbital flight test mission Mar. 22-30, 1982. The mission exposed the orbiter Columbia to extremes in thermal stress and tested the 50-foot Remote Manipulator System used to grapple and maneuver payloads in orbit. STS-3 landed at White Sands, N.M., because Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards was wet due to heavy seasonal rains. Fullerton was commander of the STS-51F Spacelab 2 mission, launched on July 29, 1985. This mission, with the orbiter 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 materiel science (a super fluid helium experiment). The mission ended August 6, 1985, with a landing at Dryden. Among the special awards and honors Fullerton has received are the Iven C. Kincheloe Award from the Society of Experimental Test Pilots in 1978, Department of Defense Distinguished Service and Superior Service Medals, Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross, NASA Distinguished and Exceptional Service Medals, NASA Space Flight Medals in 1983 and 1985, General Thomas D. White Space Trophy, Haley Space Flight Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, American Astronautical Society Flight Achievement Awards for 1977, 1981, and 1985, the Certificate of Achievement Award from the Soaring Society of America, and the Ray E. Tenhoff Award from the Society of Experimental Test Pilots in 1992 and 1993. Fullerton was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1982. He is a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, member of Tau Beta Pi, an engineering honorary fraternity, honorary member of the National World War II Glider Pilot Association, and a Fellow of the American Astronautical Society.
Date 01.01.1989
Port side thermal image of C …
Title Port side thermal image of Columbia's underside during re-entry
Description S82-29021 (30 March 1982) --- This unique look at the underside of the Space Shuttle Columbia in flight was provided by a Lockheed C-141 Starlifter aircraft and the Ames Kuiper Airborne Observatory. Flying parallel to Columbia's flight path at an altitude of approximately 41,000 feet, the aircraft's infrared imagery system was using a 36-inch telescope to follow the spacecraft, which was at about 185,000 feet when the imagery was recorded. The purpose of the system is to gather high resolution temperature data of the thermal protection system (TPS) during its transitional phase (not peak or turbulent flow phase) about 16.5 minutes after Columbia begins entry into Earth's atmosphere. Exposure time was 4/1000 of a second (or four milliseconds). This image shows the port or commander's side of the spacecraft. Astronauts Jack R. Lousma and C. Gordon Fullerton were aboard the shuttle for eight days in March of 1982.
Date 04.14.1982
Portrait of Astronaut C. Gor …
Title Portrait of Astronaut C. Gordon Fullerton
Description Portrait of Astronaut C. Gordon Fullerton in flight suit holding a model of the space shuttle.
Date 09.08.1976
Portrait of Astronaut C. Gor …
Title Portrait of Astronaut C. Gordon Fullerton
Description Portrait of Astronaut C. Gordon Fullerton in flight suit holding a model of the space shuttle.
Date Taken 1976-09-08
Two crews for the Shuttle Ap …
Title Two crews for the Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests (ALT)
Description The two crews for the Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) are photographed at the Rockwell International Space Division's Orbiter assembly facility at Palmdale, California on the day of the rollout of the Shuttle Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" spacecraft. They are, left to right, Astronauts C. Gordon Fullerton, pilot of the first crew, Fred W. Haise Jr., commander of the first crew, Joe H. Engle, commander of the second crew, and Richard H. Truly, pilot of the second crew. The DC-9 size airplane-like Orbiter 101 is in the background.
Date Taken 1976-09-17
Astronaut Gordon Fullerton f …
Title Astronaut Gordon Fullerton first pilot for Shuttle Approach and Landing Test
Description Astronaut C. Gordon Fullerton, pilot of the first crew for the Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests (ALT), is photographed at the Rockwell International Space Division's Orbiter assembly facility at Palmdale, California on the day of the rollout of the Shuttle Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" spacecraft. The DC-9 size airplane-like Orbiter 101 is in the background.
Date Taken 1976-09-17
Orbiter "Enterprise" soars a …
Title Orbiter "Enterprise" soars above the NASA 747 carrier
Description The Shuttle Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" soars above the NASA 747 carrier aircraft only seconds after separating during the first free flight of the Shuttle Apporach and Landing Tests (ALTs) conducted on August 12, 1977 at Dryden Flight Research Center in Southern California. Astronauts Fred W. Haise Jr., and C. Gordon Fullerton were the crew of the "Enterprise." The ALT free flights are designed to verify Orbiter subsonic airworthiness, integrated systems operations and pilot-guided approach and landing capability and satisfying prerequisites to automatic flight control and navigation mode.
Date Taken 1977-08-12
Orbiter "Enterprise" rides " …
Title Orbiter "Enterprise" rides "piggy-back" atop NASA 747 carrier
Description The Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" rides "piggy-back" atop the NASA 747 carrier aircraft during the early minutes of the first free flight of the Shuttle Apporach and Landing Tests (ALTs) conducted on August 12, 1977 at Dryden Flight Research Center in Southern California. Two chase planes can be seen in the right background. Astronauts Fred W. Haise Jr., and C. Gordon Fullerton were the crew of the "Enterprise." The ALT free flights are designed to verify Orbiter subsonic airworthiness, integrated systems operations and pilot-guided approach and landing capability and satisfying prerequisites to automatic flight control and navigation mode.
Date Taken 1977-08-12
Two members of the first cre …
Title Two members of the first crew of the Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests (ALT)
Description The two members of the first crew for the Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) are photographed at the Rockwell International Space Division's Orbiter assembly facility at Palmdale, California on the day of the rollout of the Shuttle Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" spacecraft. They are Astronauts Fred W. Haise Jr. (left), commander, and C. Gordon Fullerton, pilot. The DC-9 size airplane-like Orbiter 101 is in the background.
Date Taken 1976-09-17
Shuttle Orbiter "Enterprise" …
Title Shuttle Orbiter "Enterprise" lands at Edwards AFB after third ALT
Description The Shuttle Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" approaches touchdown on the runnway at Edwards Air Force Base to conclude a five-minute, 34-second unpowered flight during the third free-flight of the Shuttle Approach and and Landing Test (ALT) series, on September 23, 1977. Three T-38 chase planes follow close by. Astronauts Fred W. Haise,Jr., commander, and C. Gordon Fullerton, pilot, were the crewmen for the flight.
Date Taken 1977-09-23
Shuttle Orbiter 101 "Enterpr …
Title Shuttle Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" parked on runway at Edwards AFB
Description The Space Shuttle Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" is parked on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base following a five-minute, 34-second unpowered mission during the third free flight of the Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Test (ALT) series, on September 23, 1977. The two Orbiter 101 crewmen are in the insert, Astronauts Fred W. Haise Jr. (left), commander, and C. Gordon Fullerton, pilot.
Date Taken 1977-09-23
Orbiter "Enterprise" soars a …
Title Orbiter "Enterprise" soars above the NASA 747 carrier
Description The Shuttle Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" soars above the NASA 747 carrier aircraft after separating during the first free flight of the Shuttle Apporach and Landing Tests (ALTs) conducted on August 12, 1977 at Dryden Flight Research Center in Southern California. Astronauts Fred W. Haise Jr., and C. Gordon Fullerton were the crew of the "Enterprise." The ALT free flights are designed to verify Orbiter subsonic airworthiness, integrated systems operations and pilot-guided approach and landing capability and satisfying prerequisites to automatic flight control and navigation mode.
Date Taken 1977-08-12
Crewmen of Shuttle Orbiter 1 …
Title Crewmen of Shuttle Orbiter 101 arrive and greet technicians prior to ingress
Description The crewmen of the Space Shuttle Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" arrive at the Mate-Demate Device (MDD) and greet technicians and others (not pictured) prior to ingress. They are Astronauts Fred W. Haise Jr., right, commander, and C. Gordon Fullerton, pilot.
Date Taken 1977-09-23
Crewmen of Shuttle Orbiter 1 …
Title Crewmen of Shuttle Orbiter 101 prior to ingress
Description The crewmen of the Space Shuttle Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" pass the guard shack as they prepare to ingress the Orbiter as it sits in piggyback mode atop a NASA 747 carrier aircraft at the Mate-Demate Device (MDD) at Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC). Astronauts Fred W. Haise Jr., right, commander, and C. Gordon Fullerton, pilot are dressed in flight suits. Suit technician Joe Schmitt is in the background.
Date Taken 1977-09-23
Orbiter "Enterprise" rides " …
Title Orbiter "Enterprise" rides "piggy-back" atop NASA 747 carrier
Description The Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" rides "piggy-back" atop the NASA 747 carrier aircraft during the third free flight of the Shuttle Apporach and Landing Tests (ALTs) conducted on September 23, 1977 at Dryden Flight Research Center in Southern California. Three chase planes can be seen in the picture. Astronauts Fred W. Haise Jr., commander, and C. Gordon Fullerton, pilot were the crew of the "Enterprise." The ALT free flights are designed to verify Orbiter subsonic airworthiness, integrated systems operations and pilot-guided approach and landing capability and satisfying prerequisites to automatic flight control and navigation mode.
Date Taken 1977-09-23
Orbiter "Enterprise" separat …
Title Orbiter "Enterprise" separates from the NASA 747 carrier
Description The Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" separates from the NASA 747 carrier aircraft during the third free flight of the Shuttle Apporach and Landing Tests (ALTs) conducted on September 23, 1977 at Dryden Flight Research Center in Southern California. The vehicle with Astronauts Fred W. Haise, and C. Gordon Fullerton remained in unpowered flight for five minutes and 34 seconds before landing on the desert land of Edwards Air Force Base. The ALT free flights are designed to verify Orbiter subsonic airworthiness, integrated systems operations and pilot-guided approach and landing capability and satisfying prerequisites to automatic flight control and navigation mode.
Date Taken 1977-09-23
Astronauts Haise and Fullert …
Title Astronauts Haise and Fullerton walk away from Shuttle Orbiter 101
Description The two crewmen of the Space Shuttle Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" walk from their parked craft on desert land of Edward's Air Force Base following a successful five-minute, 34 second unpowered mission during the third in a series of Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) free flights. They are Astronauts Fred W. Haise Jr., commander, left, and C. Gordon Fullerton, pilot.
Date Taken 1977-09-23
Shuttle Orbiter "Enterprise" …
Title Shuttle Orbiter "Enterprise" lands at Edwards AFB after third ALT
Description The Shuttle Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" approaches touchdown on the runnway at Edwards Air Force Base to conclude a five-minute, 34-second unpowered flight during the third free-flight of the Shuttle Approach and and Landing Test (ALT) series, on September 23, 1977. Three T-38 chase planes follow close by. Astronauts Fred W. Haise,Jr., commander, and C. Gordon Fullerton, pilot, were the crewmen for the flight.
Date Taken 1977-09-23
Orbiter "Enterprise" soars a …
Title Orbiter "Enterprise" soars above Edwards Air Force Base
Description The Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" soars above the North Base area of Edwards Air Force Base during the third free flight of the Shuttle Apporach and Landing Tests (ALTs) conducted on September 23, 1977 at Dryden Flight Research Center in Southern California. Three chase planes follow in its wake. Its crew consists of Astronauts Fred W. Haise Jr., commander, and C. Gordon Fullerton, pilot. The ALT free flights are designed to verify Orbiter subsonic airworthiness, integrated systems operations and pilot-guided approach and landing capability and satisfying prerequisites to automatic flight control and navigation mode.
Date Taken 1977-09-23
Orbiter "Enterprise" glides …
Title Orbiter "Enterprise" glides toward first hard surface landing
Description Having separated from the NASA 905, a 747 carrier aircraft, the Space Shuttle Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" glides toward its first hard surface landing at Edwards Air Force Base. The flight is the fifth and final free flight in the 13-flight Approach and Landing Test (ALT) program. Five captive/inert and three captive/active missions preceded the free flight series. Astronauts Fred W. Haise Jr., commandor, and C. Gordon Fullerton, pilot, controlled the Orbiter during its two-minute, one-second unpowered phase.
Date Taken 1977-10-26
Orbiter "Enterprise" glides …
Title Orbiter "Enterprise" glides toward first hard surface landing
Description Having separated from the NASA 905, a 747 carrier aircraft, the Space Shuttle Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" glides toward its first hard surface landing at Edwards Air Force Base. The flight is the fifth and final free flight in the 13-flight Approach and Landing Test (ALT) program. Five captive/inert and three captive/active missions preceded the free flight series. Astronauts Fred W. Haise Jr., commandor, and C. Gordon Fullerton, pilot, controlled the Orbiter during its two-minute, one-second unpowered phase. This photograph was taken from one of the T-38 chase planes that followed the flight.
Date Taken 1977-10-26
Orbiter "Enterprise" separat …
Title Orbiter "Enterprise" separates from NASA 747 carrier
Description This photograph made from a chase plane captures the precise moment of separation of the Space Shuttle Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" from the NASA 905 aircraft, a 747 carrier aircraft. With Astronauts Fred W. Haise Jr., commander, and C. Gordon Fullerton, pilot, controlling the Enterprise, the unpowered flight lasted two minutes and one second before coming to a landing on a hard surface runway, completing the Approach and Landing Test (ALT) series. The mission marked the first hard-surface landing in the ALT series, the second tail cone off flight and the fifth free-flight.
Date Taken 1977-10-26
Orbiter "Enterprise" rides " …
Title Orbiter "Enterprise" rides "piggy-back" atop NASA 747 carrier
Description The Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" sits in a piggyback configuration atop NASA 905, a 747 carrier aircraft, prior to takeoff on the fifth and final Approach and Landing Test (ALT) free flight mission from Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC). Astronauts Fred W. Haise, Jr., commander, and C. Gordon Fullerton, pilot, later controlled the Orbiter during its two-mintue, one-second free flight and its landing - the first on a hard surface in the ALT series - at Edwards Air Force Base.
Date Taken 1977-10-26
Astronauts Haise and Fullert …
Title Astronauts Haise and Fullerton in cockpit of Orbiter 101 prior to fifth ALT
Description Astronauts Fred W. Haise Jr., commander, left, and C. Gordon Fullerton in the cockpit of the Space shuttle Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" prior to the fifth and final free flight in the Approach and Landing Test (ALT) series, from Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC).
Date Taken 1977-10-26
Orbiter "Enterprise" moments …
Title Orbiter "Enterprise" moments from first hard surface landing
Description The Space Shuttle Orbiter 101 "Enterprise" is just a few feet away from landing on a hard surface runway at Edwards Air Force Base to complete the current Approach and Landing Test (ALT) series of free flights. This flight marked the first occasion to land the Orbiter on a conventional runway, all other flights landed on dry lake beds at Edwards. Astronauts Fred W. Haise Jr., commandor, and C. Gordon Fullerton, pilot, controlled the Orbiter during its two-minute, one-second unpowered phase. This photograph was taken from one of the T-38 chase planes that followed the flight.
Date Taken 1977-10-26
Orbiter "Enterprise" moments …
Title Orbiter "Enterprise" moments from first hard surface landing
Description A ground level view of the Space Shuttle Orbiter just prior to landing on a runway at Edwards Air Force Base. Orbiter 101, the "Enterprise" was making its last landing of 13 Approach and Landing Test (ALT) missions (five captive/inert or unmanned flights atop the 747, three captive/active or manned flights atop the 747, and five free flights). This mission marked the first occasion for the "Enterprise" to make a hard surface landing. Astronauts Fred W. Haise Jr., commandor, and C. Gordon Fullerton, pilot, controlled the Orbiter during its two-minute, one-second unpowered phase.
Date Taken 1977-10-26
View of the STS 51-L Memoria …
Title View of the STS 51-L Memorial service on JSC's main mall
Description Memorial services for the Challenger Seven were conducted on the morning of Jan. 31, 1986 at JSC's main mall. Among those in attendance were former and present astronauts and Space Shuttle payload specialists (PS). U.S. Sen. Jake Garn (R., Utah) vists at center with Sultan Salman Abdelazize Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia. Others pictured include German PS Ulf Merbold, French PS Patrick Baudry and NASA Astronauts Robert L. Stewart, Marsha S. Ivins, David C. Leestma and C. Gordon Fullerton, along with former astronaut Eugene A. Cernan.
Date Taken 1986-01-31
Astronauts Jack R. Lousma, r …
Title Astronauts Jack R. Lousma, right, and C. Gordon Fullerton greet the press
Description Astronauts Jack R. Lousma speaks to news media and friends at Ellington Air Force Base after the landing the the Space Shuttle Columbia at the end of the STS-3 mission. Pilot C. Gordon Fullerton, holding his daughter, stands behind him (28929), wide angle view of STS-3 crew and families on podium (28930).
Date Taken 1982-04-02
Port side thermal image of C …
Title Port side thermal image of Columbia's underside during re-entry
Description S82-29021 (30 March 1982) --- This unique look at the underside of the Space Shuttle Columbia in flight was provided by a Lockheed C-141 Starlifter aircraft and the Ames Kuiper Airborne Observatory. Flying parallel to Columbia's flight path at an altitude of approximately 41,000 feet, the aircraft's infrared imagery system was using a 36-inch telescope to follow the spacecraft, which was at about 185,000 feet when the imagery was recorded. The purpose of the system is to gather high resolution temperature data of the thermal protection system (TPS) during its transitional phase (not peak or turbulent flow phase) about 16.5 minutes after Columbia begins entry into Earth's atmosphere. Exposure time was 4/1000 of a second (or four milliseconds). This image shows the port or commander's side of the spacecraft. Astronauts Jack R. Lousma and C. Gordon Fullerton were aboard the shuttle for eight days in March of 1982.
Date Taken 1982-04-14
Astronauts Jack R. Lousma, r …
Title Astronauts Jack R. Lousma, right, and C. Gordon Fullerton greet the press
Description Astronauts Jack R. Lousma speaks to news media and friends at Ellington Air Force Base after the landing the the Space Shuttle Columbia at the end of the STS-3 mission. Pilot C. Gordon Fullerton, holding his daughter, stands behind him (28929), wide angle view of STS-3 crew and families on podium (28930).
Date Taken 1982-04-02
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