Joe Engle is the only person to have flown two different types of winged space vehicles. Engle flew over 185 different types of aircraft, logging over 14,000 hours, and spent 224 hours in space. Born August 26, 1932 in Abilene, Kansas, Engle grew up in nearby Chapman. He attended the University of Kansas, a 1955 aeronautical engineering graduate. Commissioned through the AFROTC, he earned his wings in 1958. Engle graduated from the Air Force Experimental Test Pilot School in 1961 and the Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School in 1962. In 1963, he was chosen as a test pilot for the X-15 program. In 1966, he was named an Apollo astronaut, serving on the support crew for Apollo 10, and backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 14. The first space shuttle, Enterprise, was used to test shuttle landings. In 1977, launched from a Boeing 747, Engle flew Enterprise to two landings. In 1981 he was given command of the second shuttle flight - the only shuttle commander who had not flown an orbital space mission, launching on Columbia - the first time a previously flown manned spacecraft was re-flown. Along with his pilot, he spent two and a half days in space. At mission's end, he flew the shuttle manually from its Mach 25 orbital speed to a successful runway landing. In 1985, Engle commanded his second shuttle mission, flying Discovery with a five-person crew. His piloting skills were again used to perform a complex rendezvous with a malfunctioning orbital satellite, which was captured and repaired during a series of ambitious spacewalks. After seven days in space, Engle landed at Edwards. He retired in 1986.
Inducted in 2014.
Portrait Location: Space Gallery
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