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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. |
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| STS-98
Liftoff |
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| Robert
Curbeam |
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| Thomas
D. Jones |
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| Destiny
Module |
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| Landing |
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THE
EVENT |
The "Object At The Edge of Space" event took place in less than 30 seconds at 1:14 AM CST (7:14 GMT), 14 February 2001. The color payload bay camera was active, showing a view off to the Port (left) side of Space Shuttle. The crew were asleep, and wouldn't be awakened for several more hours. The INCO was playing with the camera iris, opening and closing, over and over again. Suddenly, something solid, and disk-shaped, popped up at the very edge of the atmosphere. This object was only visible for 5 to 7 seconds, and then it was gone. What it was, and why the INCO was fooling with the camera as he did, are still mysteries. Below are a series of still pictures captured directly from my VHS tape recorded at the time from the "live" broadcast on NASA Select TV. The pictures are unenhanced. The only thing done with the still photos was the addition of circles and arrows as necessary. Following the still frames are four animated GIFs. First is the full view as seen from the Shuttle camera. Then there are three animations with enhancements. Number one is a 250% enlargement, second is the same with colors reversed, and last is the blow-up embossed for a 3D effect. |
| THE
OBJECT AT THE EDGE OF SPACE |
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In this first of the series of photos, we see a normal view of Earth from the Shuttle payload bay camera. Nothing unusual is in this shot. |
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Now, very suddenly, an object is visible at the very edge of the atmosphere. The arrow shows where it is. |
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Seconds later and the object remains stationary in the same spot. The camera iris is closing down, though. The object is getting easier to see against the background of Earth and space. |
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Another second or two, and the camera iris has been stopped down to where we can see the object clearly. It seems to be disc shaped. It has yet to move, however. This is the clearest shot in the entire series. We are very fortunate that it got past the censor. |
In the next frame, we will see where the anomaly MIGHT have gone when it disappeared. This object appears in ONE FRAME ONLY. That characteristic has been seen fairly often. These objects seem to have the ability to move so fast, that either the camera catches them in only one frame, OR they can stop and go almost instantly. |
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The circles and arrow in this frame serve to illustrate what MIGHT have happened to the object when it disappeared from the horizon. We don't KNOW if this was the case. But the appearance of the light out in space a fraction of a second after the object vanished from the edge of the atmosphere at least suggests that it may be the same object. |
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Another second, and the anomaly is gone. Just like that. Gone, in an instant. This proves that the object was not the Moon, or a star (Stars not visible to these color cameras in daylight). The fact that it did not move, even a little bit, while in view shows that it can't be a distant satellite, or a meteor. I wish I could tell you just what that thing is, but I really don't know. |
| Next we present the animated GIFs detailing the event. |
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A most fascinating incident. We can see that the anomaly seems to rise up from the atmosphere, hang there for a bit, and vanish, perhaps passing by Atlantis on its way out of the area. Please note that the camera operator was "playing" with the iris, opening and closing, over and over again. Why he was doing this is open to debate, but it's possible that it's a tactic for confusing the eye of John Q. Public so that he won't notice things like the object at the edge of the atmosphere! |
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ENHANCEMENTS |
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This is a 250% zoom on the object which appears at the edge of the atmosphere. As can be seen, it looks rather like a metallic disk shape. |
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This is the same zoom clip, with colors reversed for a different perspective. |
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Last, but certainly not least, the zoom clip embossed. It REALLY makes the object easy to see. |
This is a most intriguing incident, don't you agree? *** 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. 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.
© 2005 Jeff Challender
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