NASA astronaut William Shepherd floated next to Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko as they looked down at their home planet some 20 years ago.

One of my most interesting moments with Yuri in space was looking at the Earth, Shepherd said during a virtual panel discussion on Thursday. They had both been in the military. He was saying, OK I was a MiG-21 pilot and I was stationed here. And half an orbit later, I would say, OK I was a Navy Seal and we were here and here and here. That was a really interesting dialogue.

On HoustonChronicle.com: What happens when NASA retires the International Space Station?

On Nov. 2, 2000, Shepherd, Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev became the first long-duration crew to live on the International Space Station. They laid the foundation for 20 years of continuous human habitation, international cooperation and technical accomplishments.

Shepherd spoke Russian. Gidzenko and Krikalev spoke English. They communicated with a mixture of languages called Runglish.

And their technical challenges began almost immediately. They were initially unable to open the space stations hatch. They struggled for a little bit before getting inside, turning on the lights, activating the toilet and making hot water to enjoy a warm beverage after two days in a Russian Soyuz capsule eating cold food.

It was very new, very clean, recalled Krikalev, who had previously flown on the Russian space station Mir. He said it wasnt completely empty but certainly didnt look lived in.

When the first cargo vehicle arrived 15 days later, it was supposed to dock autonomously. But the spacecraft started wobbling when it was about 100 meters away. Gidzenko had to use hand controllers to manually bring it in.

I dont think you could say we had an average day, Shepherd said. At least not too many of them. But this was good because we were up there to get a lot of work done, and every day seemed to have its own set of challenges.

And it only took a few orbits of conflicting orders from Houston and Moscow before Shepherd gave both control centers a pointed reminder.

On HoustonChronicle.com: International Space Station: an orbiting home and lab for two decades

Look, were the International Space Station, he recalled saying. You guys have to coordinate.

Theyve worked as a team ever since. On Monday, the International Space Station will mark 20 years of continuous human occupation. It has been home to 241 people from 19 countries.

andrea.leinfelder@chron.com

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Speaking in Runglish the first Space Station dwellers talk about their mission - Houston Chronicle