Crew
| Position | Astronaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | William Shepherd, NASA Fourth spaceflight |
|
| Pilot | Sergei K. Krikalev, RSA Fifth spaceflight |
|
| Flight Engineer | Yuri Gidzenko, RSA Second spaceflight |
|
The commander, Bill Shepherd, was a former Navy SEAL, whose only spaceflights were on shuttle missions, and at the beginning of the mission his total time in space was about two weeks. Questions had been raised by the Russian space agency about the choice of Shepherd as mission commander due to his lack of experience. Flight engineer Sergei Krikalev had spent over a year in orbit, mostly on Mir, and would become the first person to visit the ISS twice. He had felt excitement to have been one of the first people to enter to Zarya module (the first component of the space station) in 1998, during STS-88, and was looking forward to returning. Yuri Gidzenko was designated commander and pilot of the two-day Soyuz mission to the station, had one previous spaceflight, which was a 180 day stay aboard Mir.
Shepherd was only the second U.S. astronaut to be launched in a Russian spacecraft, the first being Norman Thagard, who launched on Soyuz TM-21 to visit Mir in 1995. Shepherd expected one of the biggest challenges for the ISS would be the compatibility of technologies, such as that between Russian and U.S. technologies.
Read more about this topic: Expedition 1
Famous quotes containing the word crew:
“Nor aught availed him now
To have built in heav’n high tow’rs; nor did he scape
By all his engines, but was headlong sent
With his industrious crew to build in hell.”
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Blacks rebellious. Crew uneasy. Our linguist says
their moaning is a prayer for death,
ours and their own.”
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A maker of Bonnets and Hoods—
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And a Broker, to value their goods.”
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