Word: shepherd
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...come an American is in command? How did he get the job? If anyone has a right to talk of the station as a long journey, it's space station commander Jim Shepherd, or "Shep" as he is known to all, including wife Beth and Russian ground controllers (who pronounce it "Ship"). Shepherd, 51, joined the U.S. Navy to become a pilot, then the only route to commanding a space mission. Poor eyesight ended that dream, so he became a frogman and used that as a stepping-stone to the Astronaut Corps, but as a mission specialist, not a commander...
...turn Freedom into the ISS, the reward was command of the first crew to spend a four-month rotation aboard. But that four-month trip was preceded by a four-year wait as deadlines slipped and the cash-strapped Russians had trouble delivering Zvezda, a Mir-like module where Shepherd, Krikalev, 42, and Yuri Gidzenko, 38, will eat, sleep and do most of their work while in space...
...heard that Shepherd has been criticized by the Russians for being inexperienced. How is he dealing with that? Yes, there have been repeated questions about his ability to command. American shuttle flights are of short duration, and Shepherd had just about two weeks' experience in orbit, compared to cosmonauts who spend months in space. Krikalev, for one, has spent more than year in space. The first cosmonaut pilot assigned to the crew and charged with the task of flying the Soyuz capsule refused to serve with Shepherd, whom he considered a rookie. Shepherd's authority was further undermined by Russian...
...Shepherd has shown a determination to make things work. He is openly deferential to his more experienced colleagues. "A good leader sometimes has to be a good follower," he said shortly before launch. Although there clearly is some rivalry between the two space programs, Shepherd has remained scrupulously neutral...
...name of the station, the International Space Station, strikes many, including Shepherd, as too cumbersome. During his first day on the job, he decided to change...