The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Aviation Museum has announced that it will be displaying a collection of the personal archives and memorabilia of NASA astronaut Joe Engle. Engle, who participated in the X-15, Apollo and space shuttle programs, and his wife, Jeanie, donated the collection to the EAA Aviation Foundation in 2020. The exhibit will open on June 4 with a dedication and ribbon cutting at the museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
“The personal archives donated to EAA by Joe and Jeanie Engle are especially important because of the breadth of experiences they had in the programs that stretched the boundaries of flight,” said EAA Aviation Museum director Ron Connolly. “Joe’s X-15 experience in the 1960s took us to the edge of space, followed by his experience training in the Apollo program and his leadership in the testing and early missions of the space shuttle that helped create the ongoing manned space efforts that continue today.”
Engle was selected as an astronaut in 1966, serving as served as support crew for Apollo 10 and backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 14. An Air Force pilot and aeronautical engineer, he also participated in the 1977 space shuttle approach and landing test flights, commanded space shuttle flights STS-2 and STS-51-I and served as Deputy Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight at NASA Headquarters in 1982. He has logged more than 14,700 flight hours and over 224 hours in space.
