Joseph Henry Engle (August 26, 1932 – July 10, 2024) was an American pilot, aeronautical engineer, and NASA astronaut. He was the commander of two Space Shuttle missions including STS-2 in 1981, the program's second orbital flight. He also flew two flights in the Shuttle program's 1977 Approach and Landing Tests. Engle was one of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental spaceplane jointly operated by the Air Force and NASA.

As an X-15 pilot, Engle made three flights above , thus qualifying for astronaut wings under the American convention for the boundary of space. In 1966, he was selected for NASA's 5th Astronaut Group, joining the Apollo program. He was backup Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) for Apollo 14 and was originally scheduled to walk on the Moon as LMP for Apollo 17. However, cancellation of later flights prompted NASA to select geologist-astronaut Harrison Schmitt as the Lunar Module Pilot, displacing Engle.

Biography

Personal life and education

Joseph Henry Engle was born on August 26, 1932, in Abilene, Kansas. Engle graduated from Dickinson County High School in 1950. He was active as a Boy Scout and earned the rank of First Class. Engle received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Kansas in 1955, where he was a member of the Theta Tau Professional Engineering Fraternity.

Engle was married to the former Mary Catherine Lawrence (1934–2004) of Mission Hills, Kansas, and had two children and one stepchild. He was a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and became a Fellow in 2009.

Engle died at his home in Houston, Texas on July 10, 2024, at the age of 91. With Engle's death, all 12 pilots to fly the X-15 are now deceased.

Flight experience

thumb|left|upright|Engle with the X-15A-2 aircraft in 1965

thumb|ARPS Class III graduates. Front row: [[Edward Givens|Ed Givens, Tommie Benefield, Charlie Bassett, Greg Neubeck and Mike Collins. Back row: Al Atwell, Neil Garland, Jim Roman, Al Uhalt and Engle]]

Engle received his commission in the U.S. Air Force through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps at the University of Kansas. While in school he was a member of the Professional Engineering Fraternity Theta Tau, and decided to become a test pilot. While working at Cessna Aircraft during the summer, he learned how to fly from a fellow draftsman, Henry Dittmer.

Engle entered flying school in 1957, and received his pilot wings in 1958. He flew the F-100 Super Sabre with the 474th Fighter Day Squadron and the 309th Tactical Fighter Squadron at George Air Force Base, California. Chuck Yeager recommended Engle for Air Force Experimental Flight Test Pilot School (Class 61C), from which he graduated in 1961, and he was later assigned to the third class of the Aerospace Research Pilot School (Class III), despite his reluctance to leave "stick and rudder" flying for a space capsule. Despite what he later called "the best flying job in the world", Engle decided to apply again to NASA as he expected to be rotated to another Air Force assignment within a year and hoped to go to the Moon.

NASA career

thumb|left|Engle, commander of the [[STS-2 mission, with Richard Truly, pilot]]

Engle was one of 19 astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966. He served on the support crew for Apollo 10. He then served as backup Lunar Module Pilot for the Apollo 14 mission. He was due to land on the Moon as Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 17, but was replaced by geologist Harrison Schmitt. This was a result of pressure from the scientific community to have a professional geologist explore the Moon, and not just test pilot engineers who had been given rudimentary geology training. In response to getting bumped from Apollo 17, he said "When you think about it, the lunar missions were geology-oriented."

He served as deputy associate administrator for manned space flight at NASA Headquarters from March to December 1982.

Post-NASA career

Engle retired from the USAF with the rank of colonel on November 14, 1986, and from NASA on November 28, 1986. On December 1, 1986, he was appointed by the Governor of Kansas and the United States Secretary of the Air Force to a billet in the Kansas Air National Guard at the rank of brigadier general, initially serving as a special assistant to the adjutant general. Under this arrangement, Engle was permitted to retain Houston residency. The discrepancy between his Air Force and Air National Guard ranks was rectified by Senate confirmation of his promotion on February 2, 1988. He subsequently served as Air National Guard assistant to the commander in chief, United States Space Command and North American Air Defense Command (NORAD), with headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. Engle ultimately retired from the Air National Guard around 1991 at the rank of major general, a promotion previously confirmed by the Senate on June 22, 1989.

In 1992, he was inducted into the Aerospace Walk of Honor. In 2001, Engle was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame and the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.

  • Defense Distinguished Service Medal – "for outstanding achievements"
  • NASA Distinguished Service Medal
  • AIAA Lawrence Sperry Award for Flight Research (1966)
  • Iven C. Kincheloe Prize awarded by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (1977) – for taking part in testing the Space Shuttle Enterprise
  • Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy
  • University of Kansas School of Engineering Distinguished Engineering Service Award (1982)
  • Aerospace Walk of Honor, Lancaster, California (1992)
  • National Aviation Hall of Fame, Dayton, Ohio (2001)
  • Award of Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers (2007)
  • International Air & Space Hall of Fame (2014)

See also

  • The Astronaut Monument

References

Bibliography

  • Iven C. Kincheloe Awards
  • Joe Engle () at the National Aviation Hall of Fame
  • Joe Engle at the Kansas Historical Society