Maj. Gen. Joe Henry Engle, one of the Air Force’s most daring test pilots and astronauts—and one of very few ever to fly two winged vehicles into space, is dead at age 91. A distinguished career that ranged from the high-speed X-15 research aircraft to commanding Space Shuttle missions easily qualified him to be among the pivotal figures in American aerospace history.
Born in Kansas in 1932, Engle’s path to the stars began with a degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Kansas in 1955. He earned his Air Force wings in 1958 and quickly proved himself as a pilot, flying the F-100 Super Sabre at George Air Force Base in California. These skills took him to the USAF Test Pilot School, where he was engaged in testing several fighter aircraft, such as the Century Series fighters.
1963 marked the change of pace in Engle’s career, with an assignment to the X-15 program. In the process, during that time, he flew 16 times, going over 50 miles on three separate occasions, which he bragged as earning his astronaut wings. He finally flew on an X-15 on October 3, 1965, again performing a suborbital space flight.
He was chosen for NASA’s fifth astronaut group in 1966, becoming both the youngest astronaut selected and the first to have already flown in space. He was assigned as the backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 14 and then for a year as part of the initial Apollo 17 crew. He was pulled from this flight, though, when NASA decided to put at least one scientist-astronaut on the lunar surface, bumping him for geologist Harrison Schmitt.
Monuments Engle contributed to the Space Shuttle program. In 1977 he did approach and landing trials in NASA’s test shuttle, Enterprise. He commanded STS-2 in 1981, the second shuttle flight, and STS-51I in 1985, with a 12-hour spacewalk to repair a crippled military communications satellite.
In his flying career, Engle had flown over 185 different aircraft types, logging over 15,000 hours. He remained in the Air Force and retired as a major general. During his retirement, he returned to work as a Technical Advisor and Consultant for numerous aerospace-oriented organizations, including serving on NASA’s International Space Station Advisory Committee.
Fellow astronaut Gen. Kevin Chilton recalled that he shared his wisdom with all and showed a tremendous willingness to help. He was known as the best “stick and rudder” man, a real measure of his piloting skills.
Among other honors, Engle has been awarded the Defense and Air Force Distinguished Service medals, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and numerous NASA awards and commendations. He was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame and received the Air Force Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.
No one has walked the walk or talked the talk in aerospace like Major General Joe Engle. He leaves behind the legacy of unrivaled dedication and a pioneering spirit in what he contributed toward the field of aerospace; his contributions opened the way for future astronauts and test pilots, guaranteeing him a place in the annals of American spaceflight history.