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On the morning of 2 December 1993 at 3:26 AM CST (9:26 GMT) , Space Shuttle Endeavour rocketed from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Rendezvous with Hubble Space Telescope took place on 2 December, with grappling accomplished at 2:48 AM CST (8:48 GMT). Final berthing of HST in the payload bay was at 3:26 AM CST (9:26 GMT), exactly 48 hours after liftoff. All mission objectives were completed to the satisfaction of everyone. Endeavour landed at Kennedy Space Center, runway 33, at 11:26 PM CST 12 December 1993 (5:26 GMT 13 December). Total mission duration was 10 days 19 hours 59 minutes. This was the 5th flight of the new Endeavour, which was constructed to replace the lost Shuttle Challenger. The purpose of mission STS-61 was to "save" the Hubble, as it had been launched in 1990 with a seriously flawed main mirror. There were several repairs and upgrades on tap, with no less than five EVAs (Extra Vehicular Activity or spacewalk) to perform the most delicate and demanding work done in a spacesuit in zero-G to date. The EVAs were conducted by two teams of Astronauts, who risked their lives in the cold airless depths of space to advance the science of astronomy. That risk to life and limb is no joke either. On one of the EVAs, there was a VERY close call with a piece of space junk. That story is STS-61 The Close Shave. The EVA teams consisted of Musgrave with Hoffman, and Thornton with Akers. One of these EVAs included a strange object which seemed to be pacing the Shuttle/HST complex on orbit. Since this video footage was garnered from a TV documentary on the Hubble repair mission, we do not know which spacewalk it came from, nor the date and time. We only know that it was one of the Musgrave/Hoffman EVAs, of which there were three. Next we will have a look at a couple still frames from the event, to help familiarize you with the scene before we go to the animated GIF. |
Astronaut
Story Musgrave ( right ), the "hero" of STS-61. |
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That's Astronaut Story Musgrave on the end of the robotic arm known as Canadarm. As he approached HST for his work, something out in space appears to be tracking the Shuttle. |
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| Now we can see the motion of Canadarm carrying Astronaut Musgrave, and the track of the object as well. The first few frames of the GIF are closer together in real time in order to provide more detail on the way this anomaly seemingly emerged from nowhere. Very quickly, the INCO catches on to this, and cut to a camera inside Endeavour. The behavior of this object is quite remeniscient of the Anomaly Seen During STS-108. Another which just "fades" into existence, is the Sunset Object of STS-106. We will now see what NASA felt we would find more important to look at under these circumstances... |
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Is THIS what you'd rather see than the Astronauts working outside in suits?? Not me! But, in this day and age of tight government control over virtually everything you see and hear, it's not really a surprise, now is it? |
| *** At all times during this incident, the camera was under the control of the INCO in Houston Mission Control. (INCO - INstrument & Communication Officer - The man in Houston Mission Control Center who is responsible for operating the Shuttle payload bay, and robotic arm, cameras. He also remotely operates the helmet cameras in space suits. In the case of ISS, this officer is referred to as the CATO - Communications And Tracking Officer. In both cases, these persons CONTROL everything which is PERMITTED to go out on broadcast to the public. It is a commonly believed falacy that the cameras are operated by Astronauts & Cosmonauts on the Shuttles, and Space Station. Very little camera work is done by the crews. They're way too busy for that.) At the end of the day, it's up to YOU to draw your own conclusions.
© 2004 Jeff Challender
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