Shepherd during Soyuz winter survival training in March 1998 nearStar City, RussiaWilliam Shepherd on the ISS as commander of Expedition 1
After Shepherd was selected forNASA 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 forNASA Astronaut Group 9 in 1980.[9] In 1986, Shepherd's Navy SEAL training proved unexpectedly useful toNASA as he helped to direct the underwater salvage operations of theSpace ShuttleChallenger after itsdestruction. Shepherd then served as amission specialist on threeSpace Shuttle flights: missionSTS-27 in 1988,[10] missionSTS-41 in 1990,[11] which deployed theUlysses probe, and missionSTS-52 in 1992.[12] He was the first member ofNASA Astronaut Group 10 to fly a space mission.
From March 1993 to January 1996, he was assigned to theInternational 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]
STS-27:Atlantis (December 2–6, 1988) Shepherd served with his crewmates on a mission that lasted 105 hours and carriedDepartment of Defense payloads. The mission is noteworthy due to the severe damageAtlantis sustained to its critical heat-resistant tiles during ascent.[14][15][10]
STS-41:Discovery (October 6–10, 1990) during 66 orbits of theEarth, the crew aboard the Orbiter successfully deployed theUlysses, starting it on a four-year journey (viaJupiter) to investigate the polar regions of theSun.[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. RetrievedMay 4, 2021.
^"William Shepherd".Astronanaut Hall of Fame.Orlando, Florida: Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. May 2, 2009.Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. RetrievedMay 4, 2021.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration.
