Joe Henry Engle

We are greatly saddened to report that General Joe Henry Engle, USAF pilot, aeronautical engineer, X-15 Test Pilot, NASA astronaut, and commander of two Space Shuttle missions, has flown west.

Engle was born on August 26, 1932, in Chapman, Kansas, and in his youth, he was active as a Boy Scout, achieving the impressive rank of First Class. While working at Cessna Aircraft during summer breaks, Joe was taught how to fly by fellow draftsman Henry Dittmer. He received his commission in the U.S. Air Force through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps while attending the University of Kansas. Commencing flight training in 1957, Joe received his pilot wings in 1958, flying the F-100 Super Sabres with the 474th Fighter Day Squadron and the 309th Tactical Fighter Squadron at George Air Force Base, California.

Chuck Yeager recommended Engle for USAF Test Pilot School, where after completion, Joe served as a test pilot in the Fighter Test Group at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and subsequently joined the X-15 research program.

On June 29, 1965, with his parents watching from the ground, Joe piloted the X-15 to an altitude exceeding 50 miles, qualifying him for astronaut wings. Joe flew a total of 17 X-15 flights, and on his final X-15 mission on October 14, 1965, he managed a sub-orbital space flight without the benefit of the MH-96 adaptive flight control system.

Joe loved flying more than anything, and despite resisting leaving what he later called "the best flying job in the world," he decided to apply to NASA in hopes of going to the Moon.

Engle was one of 19 astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966. He served as support crew for Apollo 10, then as backup Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 14, and was expected to land on the Moon as Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 17.

When Deke Slayton asked Engle to choose between Skylab, Apollo–Soyuz, or the Space Shuttle missions, Joe responded without hesitation that he preferred the Shuttle for its airplane-like handling. Flying with stick and rudder mattered most to Joe, a preference that ultimately meant he would not make it to the Moon.

Don't feel too bad for Joe; he got to fly Space Shuttle Enterprise directly off NASA’s 747 Shuttle Transport Aircraft from an altitude of 25,000 feet. Explosive bolts released the untested 160-thousand-pound unpowered orbiter for a two-minute glide flight to landing. As commander of one of the two Space Shuttle Test Crews, Joe flew multiple Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Test Flights from June through October 1977.

Once all testing was complete, Joe was assigned as backup commander for the very first orbital test flight of Space Shuttle Columbia, STS-1.

On November 12, 1981, during STS-2, the second NASA Space Shuttle mission, the orbiter Columbia launched from Pad 39A at 15:10:00 UTC under the command of Joe H. Engle and Richard H. Truly. After a 37-orbit flight covering a total of 1,070,000 miles over a period of 2 days, 6 hours, 13 minutes, and 12 seconds, Columbia returned, touching down on Runway 23 at Edwards Air Force Base at 21:23 UTC on November 14, 1981.

On August 12, 1993, Joe was eager to return to space as mission commander on STS-51 aboard Space Shuttle Discovery. Just as the count reached the T−3 second mark, the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) had already commenced ignition, but a literal last-second shutdown was triggered by faulty fuel flow sensors in one of the SSMEs. Thankfully, STS-51 was successfully launched one month later. That was Joe’s last time in space.

Engle flew over 185 different types of aircraft (25 different fighters) during his career, logging more than 15,400 hours of flight time, of which 9,000 were in jet aircraft and 225 hours in space.

In 1992, Joe Engle was inducted into the Aerospace Walk of Honor, and on July 21, 2001, he was enshrined in Dayton, Ohio, in the National Aviation Hall of Fame Class of 2001, alongside famed fighter pilot USAF ace Robin Olds and U.S. Marine Corps ace Marion Carl. In November 2001, Joe was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Sadly, General Joe Henry Engle, recipient of NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal, Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, and the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, flew west on July 10, 2024, at the age of 91.