Selected as a scientist-astronaut by NASA in June 1965, Joe was one of the capsule communicators on Apollo 13, as well as a science pilot for Skylab 2. Following Skylab 2, he was in charge of the on-orbit branch of the astronaut office. He also served as the director of the Space and Life Sciences Lab at Johnson Space Center. After retiring from the Navy in 1987 he pursued careers with Lockheed Martin and subsequently worked for Wyle Labs retiring in 2004. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute.