Space Shuttle Atlantis served well during the flight of STS-98 in February 2001. Liftoff from Launch Pad 39A Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral Florida, took place on 7 February 2001 at 5:13 PM CST (23:13 GMT). This marked the first NASA Shuttle flight of the 21st Century (Many think that the century & millenium began on New Year's Day 2000, but this is erroneous. The 20th Century ended at Midnight 31 December 2000).

Atlantis docked to the International Space Station on 9 February, at 10:51 AM CST (16:51 GMT). When the hatches between the spacecraft were opened, the Crew of STS-98 were rung aboard Navy style by Commander Bill Shepherd of ISS Expedition 1.

This was ISS Assembly Mission 5A, and its main task was the intallation of the new US built Destiny Laboratory Module. Three EVAs (Extra Vehicular Activity or spacewalk) were carried out by Astronauts Robert Curbeam and Thomas D. Jones, who helped install and connect Destiny. They executed a number of other tasks outside the Shuttle/Station Complex as well. The science side of the flight included the on orbit SIMPLEX experiment.

The mission ended on 20 February 2001, with a safe landing on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base (NASA's Dryden Research Center) in the California desert, at 3:33 PM EST (20:33 GMT). My colleague L.L. Wille had access to the NASA internal engineering channel at the time, and captured photos after the landing which showed that the brakes on the port side main landing gear had failed, with a large hydraulic fluid leak seen in the photo at bottom right. Total duration: 12 days 21 hours 21 minutes.

On Atlantis' second orbit, some three hours after liftoff, she passed directly over my [then] home in Sacramento, California. This was the very first time I video taped a Shuttle pass. It was some six weeks later, during the flight of STS-102, that the real inspiration for Project P.R.O.V.E. came to me.

On 17 February 2001, at approximately 8:36 GMT, Shuttle Atlantis was passing over the southwestern Indian Ocean. The location was east of South Africa, and south of Madagascar.

As the Shuttle, flying alone since the day before, flew above this region, an area of the clouds near the surface began to display a grid patter, with lines running at right angles to each other. I've never noted natural clouds to ever arrange themselves in a pattern of squares like this.

This event was shared with my friend Cristo Louw of Capetown back in summer 2001. He posted it to his website, the South African UFO Resource, or SAUFOR, at the time, as it concerned the environment of his country.

Let's have a look at the pictures themselves now, OK?

One just has to wonder, what are 'they' up to with this worldwide program of spraying chemicals into the air we breathe. I don't know, do YOU?

***

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.)

For a longer essay on this Chemtrail phenomenon, and more contrail vs. chemtrail comparison photos, please click HERE. (Large Graphic File - Long Download For Dial-Up Users)

When someone wants to argue with you that chem-trails are mere contrails, ask them "Where does all that MASS comes from then?" That's the key point in dismissing the contrail/ice crystal argument. MASS.

Imagine an old car that is burning oil due to bad piston rings. The blue cloud belching from its tailpipe IS nasty, but there isn't that much of it, and the cloud will dissipate rapidly. Can this car, by driving down one road through a small town, create a heavy blanket of smoke over the ENTIRE town? Of course not; there isn't enough MASS in that old car's exhaust. The same principle applies to chem-trails. Jet exhaust, known as a contrail, doesn't contain enough MASS to account for the phenomenon we call chemtrails.

At the end of the day, it's up to YOU to draw your own conclusions.

© 2007 Jeff Challender