Astronaut Bill Shepherd prepares to plunge into the water from a Soyuz mockup

97-10683 (October 3, 1997) --- Astronaut Bill Shepherd, commander of the first International Space Station crew, prepares to plunge into the water from a mockup of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft descent module as he goes through water survival training in the Black Sea recently. Such training would be needed if the Russian Soyuz spacecraft were to land in the water instead of on land as is normal. Shepherd, along with crew members cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko, the Soyuz commander, and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev, will launch on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the new station in January 1999. They will return on a U.S. Space Shuttle five months later, however, and the Soyuz spacecraft will remain attached to the station as a lifeboat.