   william mcmichael "bill" shepherd (born july 26, 1949), (capt, usn, ret.), is a former american navy seal and astronaut, who served as commander of expedition 1, the first crew on the international space station. shepherd is a recipient of the congressional space medal of honor. ==biography== shepherd was born in oak ridge, tennessee on july 26, 1949, but considers babylon, new york, 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 school, in phoenix, arizona, in 1967, and received a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering from the united states naval academy in 1971. after successful completion of basic underwater demolition/seal training (bud/s), he joined the elite community of naval special warfare and qualified as a navy seal. then, in 1978, he obtained a bachelor of science degree in ocean engineering, and a master of science degree in mechanical engineering from the massachusetts institute of technology. ==shepherd at nasa== thumb|220px|william shepherd on the iss as commander of expedition 1 shepherd was selected for the nasa astronaut corps in 1984. in 1986, his navy seal training proved unexpectedly useful to nasa as he participated in salvage operations of the space shuttle challenger after i
1949_births American_astronauts American_engineers Commanders_of_the_International_Space_Station Crew_members_of_the_International_Space_Station Living_people Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology_alumni People_from_Babylon,_New_York People_from_Oak_Ridge,_Tennessee Recipients_of_the_Congressional_Space_Medal_of_Honor United_States_Astronaut_Hall_of_Fame_inductees United_States_Naval_Academy_alumni United_States_Navy_SEALs_personnel United_States_Navy_astronauts United_States_Navy_officers