William McMichael Shepherd (born July 26, 1949) is a former American
astronautAn astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
who served as commander of
Expedition 1Expedition 1 was the first expedition to the International Space Station.-Crew:-Mission parameters:*Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 51.6°*Period: 92 min*Docked: November 2, 2000, 09:21:03 UTC...
, the first crew on the
International Space StationThe International Space Station is an internationally developed research facility currently being assembled in Low Earth Orbit. On-orbit construction of the station began in 1998 and is scheduled to be completed by 2011, with operations continuing until at least 2015...
. Shepherd is a recipient of the
Congressional Space Medal of HonorThe Congressional Space Medal of Honor was authorized by the United States Congress in 1969 to recognize "any astronaut who in the performance of his duties has distinguished himself by exceptionally meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of the Nation and mankind." The highest award...
.
Shepherd was born in
Oak Ridge, TennesseeOak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about 25 miles west of Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 27,387 at the 2000 census...
on July 26, 1949, but considers
Babylon, New YorkBabylon, New York can refer to:* Babylon, New York , in Suffolk County, New York, USA* Babylon, New York , in the town of Babylon...
, his hometown. He is married to Beth Stringham of Houston, Texas. His mother, Barbara Shepherd, resides in Bethesda, Maryland. His father, George R. Shepherd, is deceased.
Shepherd graduated from
Arcadia High SchoolArcadia High School is a public high school located in Phoenix, Arizona. The school enrolls 1,680 who primarily come from feeder schools in the Scottsdale Unified School District. Arcadia completed a significant renovation in the summer of 2008....
, in
Scottsdale, ArizonaScottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. As of 2007 the population of the city was 240,410. Scottsdale is regarded as an upscale tourist and shopping destination and as a representation of western American style...
, in 1967, and received a degree in
aerospace engineeringAerospace engineering is the branch of engineering behind the design, construction and science of aircraft and spacecraft. It is broken into two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering...
from the U.S.
William McMichael Shepherd (born July 26, 1949) is a former American
astronautAn astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
who served as commander of
Expedition 1Expedition 1 was the first expedition to the International Space Station.-Crew:-Mission parameters:*Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 51.6°*Period: 92 min*Docked: November 2, 2000, 09:21:03 UTC...
, the first crew on the
International Space StationThe International Space Station is an internationally developed research facility currently being assembled in Low Earth Orbit. On-orbit construction of the station began in 1998 and is scheduled to be completed by 2011, with operations continuing until at least 2015...
. Shepherd is a recipient of the
Congressional Space Medal of HonorThe Congressional Space Medal of Honor was authorized by the United States Congress in 1969 to recognize "any astronaut who in the performance of his duties has distinguished himself by exceptionally meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of the Nation and mankind." The highest award...
.
Biography
Shepherd was born in
Oak Ridge, TennesseeOak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about 25 miles west of Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 27,387 at the 2000 census...
on July 26, 1949, but considers
Babylon, New YorkBabylon, New York can refer to:* Babylon, New York , in Suffolk County, New York, USA* Babylon, New York , in the town of Babylon...
, his hometown. He is married to Beth Stringham of Houston, Texas. His mother, Barbara Shepherd, resides in Bethesda, Maryland. His father, George R. Shepherd, is deceased.
Shepherd graduated from
Arcadia High SchoolArcadia High School is a public high school located in Phoenix, Arizona. The school enrolls 1,680 who primarily come from feeder schools in the Scottsdale Unified School District. Arcadia completed a significant renovation in the summer of 2008....
, in
Scottsdale, ArizonaScottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. As of 2007 the population of the city was 240,410. Scottsdale is regarded as an upscale tourist and shopping destination and as a representation of western American style...
, in 1967, and received a degree in
aerospace engineeringAerospace engineering is the branch of engineering behind the design, construction and science of aircraft and spacecraft. It is broken into two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering...
from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1971. After successful completion of BUD/S, he joined the elite community of
Naval Special WarfareThe United States Naval Special Warfare Command was commissioned on 16 April 1987, at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in San Diego, California...
and qualified as a
Navy SEALThe United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land Forces, commonly known as the Navy SEALs, are the Special Operations Forces of the United States Navy, employed in direct action and special reconnaissance operations...
. Then, in 1978, he obtained both an
MSA Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in a large number of countries...
in mechanical engineering and the degree of
Ocean EngineerAn engineer's degree refers to a various number of academic degrees relating to engineering:-In Europe:In Europe, it can be an approximately five-year degree roughly equivalent to a master's degree....
from the
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological research...
.
Shepherd at NASA
Shepherd was selected for the
NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for...
astronaut corps in 1984. In 1986, his Navy SEAL training proved unexpectedly useful to NASA as he participated in salvage operations of the
space shuttleThe Space Shuttle, part of the Space Transportation System , is a spacecraft operated by NASA for orbital human spaceflight missions. It began operations in the 1980s and is scheduled to be retired from service in 2010 after 134 launches...
ChallengerSpace Shuttle Challenger was NASA's second Space Shuttle orbiter to be put into service, Columbia being the first. Its maiden flight was on April 4, 1983, and it completed nine missions before breaking apart 73 seconds after the launch of its tenth mission, STS-51-L on January 28, 1986, resulting...
after its
destructionSTS-51-L was the twenty-fifth flight of the American Space Shuttle program, which marked the first time a civilian had flown aboard the Space Shuttle...
. Shepherd then served as a mission specialist on three space shuttle flights: mission
STS-27STS-27 was a space shuttle mission by NASA using the Space Shuttle Atlantis. It was the 27th shuttle mission, and the 3rd for Atlantis, 2nd after the Challenger disaster. It carried a classified payload for the U.S...
in 1988, mission
STS-41STS-41 was the eleventh mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery. The four-day mission with a primary objective to launch the Ulysses probe as part of the "International Solar Polar Mission".-Crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass:...
which deployed the Ulysses probe in 1990, and mission
STS-52STS-52 was a Space Transportation System mission, launched 22 October 1992.-Crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter landing with payload: 97,201 kg**Payload: 8,078 kg*Perigee: 304 km...
in 1992.
In 1993, Shepherd was assigned to program management for the International Space Station (ISS). From October 31, 2000, to March 21, 2001, he and Russian cosmonauts
Yuri GidzenkoYuri Pavlovich Gidzenko is a Ukrainian-Russian cosmonaut. He is a Colonel of the Russian Air Force, and test cosmonaut of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. He is married to Olga Vladimirovna Shapovalova, born in 1961...
and Sergey Krikalev served as Expedition 1, the first crew stationed at the ISS.
Shepherd has logged over 159 days in space.
Awards received
- Shepherd was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor
The Congressional Space Medal of Honor was authorized by the United States Congress in 1969 to recognize "any astronaut who in the performance of his duties has distinguished himself by exceptionally meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of the Nation and mankind." The highest award...
in 2003.
- He is a recipient of NASA's "Steve Thorne" Aviation Award.
- 2009 inductee into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame
The United States Astronaut Hall of Fame is located in Titusville, Florida. It features the world's largest collection of personal astronaut memorabilia, particularly focusing on those astronauts who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, as well as spacecraft.-History:In the 1980s, the then-six...
.
External links