Bidspirit auction | Astronaut Fitz Fulton signed 1977

Astronaut Fitz Fulton signed 1977 NASA Space Shuttle First Captive Flight FDC. Fulton was the project pilot on all early tests of the Boeing 747 Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) used to air launch the Space Shuttle prototype Enterprise in the Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) at Dryden in 1977. During these flights, the SCA carried Enterprise to an altitude of about 25,000 feet, where it was separated from the 747 and flown to a landing by the Shuttle test crew in five flights. Several uncrewed and crewed captive flights preceded the free flights. For his work in the ALT program, Fulton received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal. He also received the Exceptional Service Medal again in 1983 for flying the 747 SCA during the European tour of the Space Shuttle Enterprise. After orbital flights began in 1981, Fulton continued to fly the SCA during ferry missions returning Orbiters to the Kennedy Space Center Florida. During his career at Dryden, Fulton was project pilot on NASA's B-29, B-50, and B-52 bombers launch aircraft used to air launch a variety of piloted and unpiloted research aircraft, including the X-1, X-2, X-15s, and M-2, HL-10, and X-24 rocket airplanes. He was also project pilot on the Laminar Flow Control Leading Edge research program using a specially modified C-140 JetStar. Fulton was the project pilot for the FAA/NASA Controlled Impact Demonstration program during 1984. It culminated on December 1, 1984, when he remotely flew an unpiloted, heavily instrumented Boeing 720 to a prepared impact point on Rogers Dry Lake to test the flammability of anti-misting jet fuel in a crash situation. He was named a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and in 1977 received the Society's Iven C. Kincheloe Award as Test Pilot of the Year for his work on the ALT program. At the time of his NASA retirement in 1986, Fulton had over 16,000 flying hours in 235 types of aircraft.