Shepherd during Soyuz winter survival training in March 1998 near Star City, RussiaWilliam Shepherd on the ISS as commander of Expedition 1
After Shepherd was selected for NASA Astronaut Group 10 in 1984,[6] rumors spread that he had answered a standard interview question about what he did best by saying, "kill people with knives"[7] but he later refused to confirm or deny the account, commenting "it's too good a story".[8] He was the first military non-aviator in astronaut training, following his unsuccessful application for NASA Astronaut Group 9 in 1980.[9] In 1986, Shepherd's Navy SEAL training proved unexpectedly useful to NASA as he helped to direct the underwater salvage operations of the Space Shuttle Challenger after its destruction. Shepherd then served as a mission specialist on three Space Shuttle flights: mission STS-27 in 1988,[10] mission STS-41 in 1990,[11] which deployed the Ulysses probe, and mission STS-52 in 1992.[12] He was the first member of NASA Astronaut Group 10 to fly a space mission.
From March 1993 to January 1996, he was assigned to the International Space Station Program,[4] serving as Program Manager and Deputy Program Manager. In November 1995 he was selected to command the first crew of the International Space Station (ISS). The mission was supposed to launch in 1997,[13] but a long series of political, financial, and technical problems caused significant delays. Although sixteen nations would participate in the ISS program, Russia, along with the United States would bear the majority of the station's costs.[5]
Spaceflight experience
STS-27: Atlantis (December 2–6, 1988) Shepherd served with his crewmates on a mission that lasted 105 hours and carried Department of Defense payloads. The mission is noteworthy due to the severe damage Atlantis sustained to its critical heat-resistant tiles during ascent.[14][15][10]
STS-41: Discovery (October 6–10, 1990) during 66 orbits of the Earth, the crew aboard the Orbiter successfully deployed the Ulysses, starting it on a four-year journey (via Jupiter) to investigate the polar regions of the Sun.[11][16]
Shepherd was next assigned to the staff of Commander, Naval Special Warfare Command,[5] to assist with the development of new capabilities and programs for the Navy's SEAL and Special Boat units. He retired from the U.S. Navy in January 2002.[5] CAPT Shepherd also served as U.S. Special Operations Command's first Science Advisor from 2008–2011.[20]
^Kelly, Scott; Dean, Margaret Lazarus (2017). Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery. London: Transworld Publishing. p. 186. ISBN9781473543195.
^Camp, David W.; Germany, D. M.; Nicholson, Leonard S. (November 1990). "STS-41: Space Shuttle Mission Report"(PDF). NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server. NASA. Archived(PDF) from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
^"William Shepherd". Astronanaut Hall of Fame. Orlando, Florida: Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. May 2, 2009. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
