By SALINA POST
Astronaut Joe Engle, the first astronaut to fly in space aboard two different winged vehicles, died on July 10, at 91.
Engle was the commander of two Space Shuttle missions including STS-2 in 1981, the program's second orbital flight. Engle also flew two flights in the Shuttle program's 1977 Approach and Landing Tests.
Engle, a Chapman, Kansas native, was one of just twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental spaceplane jointly operated by the Air Force and NASA.
Information courtesy of NASA
Joe Engle was born in Chapman, Kansas and attended the University of Kansas where he graduated with a degree in aeronautical engineering in 1955. Commissioned through the Air Force ROTC program, he earned his pilot's wings in 1958 and was assigned to fly F-100s for the 474th Fighter Day Squadron and, later, the 309th Tactical Fighter Squadron at George AFB, California.
Although in command of another squadron, then-Lt. Col. Chuck Yeager had frequent opportunities to fly with Engle -- and against him in mock dogfights -- and he was extremely impressed by the young fighter pilot's attitude and ability. When Engle applied for admission to the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards, Yeager recommended his selection.
By the time he graduated from the school in 1962, Yeager had become the commandant and, because he considered Engle "one of the sharpest pilots we had in the program," he immediately selected him for admission to the new Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS) which was being established at Edwards to train military astronauts.
Engle graduated from ARPS in 1963 and was selected as a project pilot for the X-15 program. He completed 16 flights in the rocket-powered hypersonic airplane, exceeding Mach 5 on ten of those flights and attaining a top speed of Mach 5.71 (3,886 mph). In June of 1965, he also climbed to an altitude of 280,600 feet and became one of only eight pilots from the X-15 program-who have qualified for astronaut's wings by flying an airplane into space.
Engle went on to exceed the Air Force's 50-mile threshold for astronaut rating on two subsequent X-15 flights. At 32, he was the youngest man to become an astronaut.
When NASA selected him as one of 19 new astronaut candidates in 1966, he was truly in an unusual position; he was the only one who had already engaged in spaceflight operations. First assigned to the Apollo program, he served on the support crew for Apollo X and then as backup lunar module pilot for Apollo XIV. In 1977, he was commander of one of two crews who were launched from atop a modified Boeing 747 in order to conduct approach and landing tests with the Space Shuttle Enterprise.
Then in November 1981, he commanded the second flight of the Shuttle Columbia and manually flew the re-entry-performing 29 flight test maneuvers-from Mach 25 through landing roll out. This was the first and, so far, only time that a winged aerospace vehicle has been manually flown from orbit through landing.
He accumulated the last of his 224 hours in space when he commanded the Shuttle Discovery during Mission 51-I in August of 1985.
In his retirement from NASA, the Air Force and the Kansas Air National Guard, he served as an engineering consultant and simulation evaluation pilot for Space Shuttle modifications and other advanced piloted re-entry vehicles.
Engle flew more than 180 different aircraft types and logged nearly 14,000 flight hours. His military decorations include the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medal, USAF Distinguished Service Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster.
Among his many honors, he was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal and Space Flight Medal, as well as the Harmon International, Collier, Lawrence Sperry, Iven C. Kinchloe, Robert H. Goddard and Thomas D. White aviation and space trophies.
In 1992, he was inducted into the Aerospace Walk of Honor.