Nagel graduated from Canton High School, Canton, Illinois, in 1964; received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering (high honors) from the University of Illinois in 1969, and a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering from California State University, Fresno, in 1978.

[1] Nagel received his commission in 1969 through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) program at the University of Illinois.

Nagel attended the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, from February 1975 to December 1975.

The crew aboard the Shuttle Discovery deployed communications satellites for Mexico (Morelos), the Arab League (Arabsat), and the United States (AT&T Telstar).

They used the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) to deploy and later retrieve the SPARTAN satellite which performed 17 hours of x-ray astronomy experiments while separated from the Space Shuttle.

After completing approximately 170 hours of space flight, Discovery landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on June 24, 1985.

Nagel then flew as pilot on STS-61A, the West German D-1 Spacelab mission, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on October 30, 1985.

The crew and conducted the first scheduled space walk in more than five and one-half years, and the first successful unscheduled spacewalk to free a stuck antenna on the satellite.

During the ambitious mission 89 experiments were performed in many disciplines such as materials processing, life sciences, robotics, technology, astronomy and earth mapping.