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Kansas astronaut Major General Joe Engle dies at 91
By Stephanie Nutt,
9 days ago
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Kansas astronaut Major General Joe Engle (ret.) has died at the age of 91.
According to NASA, Gen. Engle was born on Aug. 26, 1932, in Dickinson County, Kansas, and graduated from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1956.
He entered the USAF flying school in March 1956, and upon graduating, he was assigned to the Fighter Test Branch at Edwards AFB. It was while he was there that he became the youngest pilot ever to qualify as an astronaut.
In March 1966, Engle was one of 19 pilots selected for NASA space missions.
“From June through October 1977, General Engle was the commander of one of two crews that flew the initial Space Shuttle “Enterprise” Approach and Landing Test flights. The Space Shuttle was flown off the top of a modified Boeing 747 for a 2 ½ minute glide test flight from 20,000 feet to landing,” according to NASA. “On 12 Nov 1981, General Engle commanded the second orbital test flight of the Space Shuttle “Columbia,” launched from Kennedy Space Center, FL. On this flight, he became the first and only pilot to manually fly an aerospace vehicle from Mach 25 to landing.”
Space Shuttle astronauts Joe Engle, left, and Richard Truly, right, walk with George Abbey of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, prior to a flight training session at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., Nov. 5, 1981. (AP Photo)
Space Shuttle astronauts Richard Truly, right, and Joe Engle, left, inside a van are returned from the Shuttle after a reported computer problem scrubbed their flight from Kennedy Space Center in Fla., Nov. 4, 1981. (AP Photo)
Space Shuttle pilot Richard Truly, left, gestures while lunching with crewmen at Edwards Air Force Base in California, Sept. 12, 1977. At right is Joe Engle, the commander of the Enterprise which they’ll fly in the second free flight. (AP Photo)
Astronauts Joe Engle, Vance Brand, Henry Hartsfield Jr., and Gordon Fullerton, left to right, during a break in their round robbin of taking with newsmen at the Johnson Space Center at Houston on Monday, March 3, 1986. The Astronauts were speaking their thoughts on the Challenger disaster and the investigation. (AP Photo/EFK)
Former NASA astronauts Joe Engle, left, and Gene Cernan, center, look over a collection of 30-year-old photographs with Idaho’s Secretary of State Pete Cenarrusa at the Craters of the Moon National Monument Saturday, May 22, 1999 in Pocatello, Idaho. The astronauts were on hand to commemorate the 75th anniversary of National Monument designation for Craters of the Moon. Prior to their Apollo moon mission the astronauts had done geological studies at the location. Cernan was the last astronaut to walk on the moon. (AP Photo/Bill Schaefer)
According to NASA, Gen. Engle flew over 185 different types of aircraft including 38 different fighter and attack aircraft.
“He has logged more than 14,700 flight hours – 9,900 in jets and over 224 hours in space,” said NASA.
Gen. Engle earned multiple military decorations and awards.
He leaves behind a wife, children and grandchildren.
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