Space station skipper eager to start ''ambitious'' mission

BAIKONUR, Kazakstan - The first commander of the international space station says the biggest challenge of his four-month mission will be ''throttling,'' or reining in, his two hard-charging Russian crew mates.

In the traditional day-before-launch news conference Monday, NASA astronaut Bill Shepherd said he's eager to get going after almost five years of training for this flight. He borrowed a line from the world's first space man, Yuri Gagarin: ''Gagarin said it all - Poyekhali.'' That translates into ''Let's go.''

Shepherd said he and his crew are ''exceptionally well-prepared,'' given all the delays they've had to endure because of Russia's money crunch, which stalled space station work.

''To be honest with you, the plan that we've got to start out on (the) station is fairly ambitious. We've got a lot to do for the first few weeks,'' Shepherd told reporters from behind a glass wall erected to keep out germs.

''I think my biggest challenge is going to be throttling these guys and keeping the work pace kind of under control because they're very competent and aggressive guys and they're going to work real hard. My job is just to make sure the crew stays on an even keel.''

Shepherd and cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev are scheduled to lift off Tuesday aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Central Asia, for a two-day ride to the space station. The rocket was transported by rail to its launch pad on Sunday.

Shepherd, 51, a Navy captain, will be only the second American to ride a Russian rocket to orbit. As a result, a NASA official was present when the Russian space program's top commission gave the crew the official go-ahead to launch on Tuesday.

Both cosmonauts have considerably more space experience than Shepherd, a three-time space shuttle flier who hasn't been in orbit for eight years and has never been aboard a space station.

NASA insisted from the start that the space station's first commander be American - no matter what.

Shepherd was diplomatic when asked about the disgruntlement among some Russians regarding the choice of commander.

''A good leader sometimes has to be a good follower,'' he said. ''We're a team in orbit. Everybody understands that.''

Krikalev called the coming mission ''very significant.'' A lot of responsibility is riding on this crew, he said, since everything the three men do will set the tone for years to come. NASA expects the space station to fly for at least 10 years, once construction is completed in 2006.

''This mission, and this program, is the keystone for the future of human exploration,'' Shepherd said. ''What more do you want to say?''

Shepherd said his goal is to ''turn over a good ship'' to his replacements when they arrive in February via space shuttle Discovery.

He said he also hoped the complex has a name by then other than international space station, or ISS as it's known in space circles, pronounced letter by letter.

''For thousands of years, humans have been going to sea on ships,'' Shepherd said. ''People have designed and built these vessels, launched them with a good feeling that a name will bring good fortune to the crew and success to their voyage. We're waiting for some decision from our managers as to whether we will follow this tradition or not.''

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