William M. Shepherd
William McMichael Shepherd is an American Navy SEAL, engineer, and retired NASA astronaut who commanded 1, the first resident crew of the International .
- Born
- July 26, 1949
- Died
- N/A
- Birthplace
- Oak Ridge, Tennessee,United States
Flights
4
Spacewalks
0
EVA time
N/A
In space
159 days, 7 hours, 49 minutes
Bio
Shepherd graduated from the United States Naval Academy and earned ocean-engineering graduate degrees from MIT. His Navy special-operations and engineering background gave NASA an unusual blend of field operations, systems work, and crew leadership.
He flew three shuttle missions before launching on Soyuz TM-31 to command Expedition 1. He returned on STS-102 after helping establish the first permanent human presence aboard the ISS.
William M. Shepherd flew on STS-27; STS-41; STS-52; Soyuz TM-31 / STS-102. The birthplace listed as Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States gives the profile geographic context, but the career is best understood through the training, mission role, and program responsibilities described above.