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| On 19 May 2000 at 5:11 AM CDT (10:11 GMT), Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off from Launch Complex 39A, at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. She was on her way to the fledgeling International Space Station, to carry out Station Assembly Flight 2A.2a. The STS-101 Crew worked very hard to get the, as yet, two module orbiting outpost ready for the arrival of the long awaited Zvezda (Russian Word For "Star") Service Module. Zvezda was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome atop a Russian Proton booster in late July 2000. This absolutely critical life support module would open the way for the First Expeditiion Crew to begin manned flight aboard ISSy, in November 2000. The men and women of STS-101 performed a number of replacement and upgrade operations during their six days docked to ISSy. These included four new batteries, 10 new smoke detectors and four new cooling fans installed in the Zarya (Russian Word For "Sunrise") Control Module. Over a ton of supplies and equipment were stowed in advance of the First ISS Expedition Crew. In addition, a new onboard computer and three fire extinguishers were delivered. All of this cargo was carried in the SPACEHAB double module, mounted in Atlantis' payload bay. STS-101 also had a single EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity or spacewalk) on its agenda. Executed on Flight Day Four, Astronauts James Voss and Jeff Williams (pictured right) assembled a Russian Strela (Russian Word For "Arrow") crane, replaced a bad communications antenna, and finally installed exterior handrails on the Unity Node to aid future spacewalks. The EVA began on Sunday 21 May at 8:48 PM (1:48 GMT 22 May) with egress from Atlantis' airlock, ending at 3:32 AM CDT 22 May (8:32 GMT) for a total duration of 6 hours 44 minutes. Atlantis landed safely back at Kennedy Space Center Runway 15, at 1:20 AM CDT ( 6:20 GMT ) on 29 May 2000. Total duration, 9 days 20 hours 9 minutes. |
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| STS-101
Liftoff |
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| Inside
ISS |
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| Astros
On EVA |
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| Unmanned
ISSy |
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| STS-101
Landing |
| THE
EVENT |
At just about orbital dawn, the Shuttle/Station Complex was passing over the Gulf of Mexico and the Southern States, particularly Louisiana. The payload bay camera was active and pointing down and roughly to the southeast. Suddenly, unusual things started to happen. A VERY bright pulsating object appeared above the atmosphere. The object continued to get brighter and brighter, seeming to come nearer. As this aparition came closer, the "live" downlink was cut suddenly, as is the INCO's wont when something unusual comes into the field of view. It would have been interesting to see if the object came right up to the Shuttle. There were also two more distant objects seen crossing left to right at the top of the screen. These can only be seen on the original video tape, as they are quite subtle. |
| SETTING
THE SCENE |
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This frame shows that Atlantis was flying over Louisiana at the time of the event. |
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The red arrow indicates the direction in which the payload bay camera was pointed at the time. Orbital sunrise was taking place during the incident. |
| THE
LOUISIANA SEQUENCE |
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Here we have a 39 frame animated GIF of the event. Although not at good as watching the original video, this is much better for the web. The speed of the event in this animation is faster than in real life, but the heart-beat like pulsating character of the anomaly can be observed in this animated GIF. |
Also, along the top of the "screen", there was another object which scooted across the field of view from left to right. This one was accompanied by yet another faint object lower, and slower. Both of these smaller objects were heading WEST, a direction in which man-made spacecraft and satellites NEVER go. The bright object was actually tracking along with the Shuttle/Station Complex on the same orbit, or it would have been moving off is some direction. The only true motion this object appeared to display was that it seemed to be coming nearer the Shuttle/Station Complex. The INCO tried to obscure the main object by stopping down the iris of the camera, and panning to the left, just as it seemed to be approaching close enough to the Shuttle/Station complex for a possible identification. In all, there were THREE anomalous objects in this sequence. Way too much for the comfort of the INCO, who finally just shut off the downlink. |
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ENHANCEMENT |
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This animated GIF, composed of 23 frames, is color reversed. Although not as detailed at the one above, it serves to show the object with a different contrast. What this anomaly might be remains a mystery. It IS telling that the INCO took steps to censor it from the public broadcast when he noticed it. That is a pattern which is pervasive throughout NASA Select TV. |
Two other events, with similar characteristics to this one are available here: STS-115 Incident Over "Oz" 09/06 *** 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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