Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford, (USAF–Ret.), NASA Astronaut (Former) serves as a Senior Advisor to Corstone. Lt. Gen. Stafford is a Co-Founder of Stafford, Burke and Hecker, Inc. He serves as Chairman of Viatronix Inc. and COREwafer Industries, Inc. (formerly Action Products International, Inc.). He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Omega Watch Corporation of America. Lt. Gen. Stafford served as Chairman of Gibraltar Exploration Limited. Lt. Gen. Stafford has been a Director of Titanium Metals Corp., Wheelabrator Technologies Inc., AlliedSignal Corporation, CMI Terex Corporation (formerly CMI Corporation), Fisher Scientific International Inc., Pacific Scientific Company, NL Industries Inc., and BAE SYSTEMS Integrated Defense Solutions, Inc. (formerly Tracor Inc.). He also served as a Director of Honeywell International Inc.,Tremont Corporation, Timet Inc.,Titanium Metals Corp., NL Industries Inc., G4S Secure Solutions (USA), Inc., Veritas Software Technology Corporation (Formerly Seagate Technology Inc.) , and Cycomm International Inc.
He was selected as an Astronaut in 1962, piloted Gemini VI in 1965 and commanded Gemini IX in 1966. In 1969, he was the Apollo X commander for the first flight of the lunar module to the moon, descending to 10 miles above the moon and selecting the first lunar landing site. He was then named Chief of the Astronaut Office. He commanded the Apollo-Soyuz joint mission with the Soviet Cosmonauts in 1975. After serving as an Astronaut and piloting Gemini VI and commanding Gemini IX and Apollo X, the first lunar module flight to the moon, he retired in 1979 from the U.S. Air Force as Deputy Chief of Staff for Research, Development and Acquisition. In this position, Lt. Gen. was personally involved in initiating the F-117A Stealth Fighter and wrote the initial specifications for and started the B-2 Stealth Bomber program. He also served as an Advisor to a number of governmental agencies including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Air Force Material Command. He serves as Chairman of the NASA Advisory Council Task Force on the International Space Station Program, and also served as Co-Chairman of the Stafford-Covey NASA Space Shuttle Return to Flight Task Group. Lt. Gen. Stafford has flown over 125 different types of aircraft and helicopters and four different types of spacecraft. Lt. Gen. Stafford left NASA in 1975 to command the Air Force Flight Test Center. Lt. Gen. Stafford has received many honors and decorations including the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy and the Harmon International Aviation Trophy, which he received twice. He has been inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame.