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.

During the STS-101 EVA, some unusual objects were seen. Mr. Cliff Rowe of the USA reported seeing a metallic disc whilst watching live NASA Select TV online. Alas, Mr. Rowe was watching at the NASA website, and had no way to record what he saw. His sighting was at a time when my local cable TV service was not carrying the live NASA feed, so I didn't have a chance to see or capture it either.

"Live" full motion Ku-Band TV was not provided during the spacewalk. The entire spacewalk was broadcast in S-Band, which is like a slide show...all still frames. NASA refers to it as SSV, or Sequential Still Frames. S-Band TV seems to be highly favored during views from outside the Station and Shuttles. On the other hand, it is virtually nonexistent when television is downlinked from INSIDE the Station and Shuttles. There is a story about The S-Band Fraud on this site.

I did manage to capture some S-Band still shots of an object which at first seemed to be a lens flare. Lens flares tend to be hexagonal in shape. They are usually seen to form a line toward the Sun as well. This was object was BELL SHAPED, and failed to behave as a lens flare should. The anomaly also had shadowing on one side which was consistent with the position of the Sun at the time. It persisted in a stationary position for as long as the INCO allowed us to see it. And it compared in shape and size with an object seen days later during the undocking and flyaround. I can't say what this bell shaped object is, but I know it isn't ice, debris, or a lens effect.

Now, let's have a look at the still frames from the EVA of STS-101, shall we?

21 May 2000. Note the bell shaped object, left of the Astronaut. The object even has a shadowed area consistent with the angle of the Sun. The shadowing is positive indication that this thing is solid, and not a lens artifact. This object persisted in the exact same position for several minutes. Normally, S-Band frames refresh every 20-30 seconds. That was not the case with the STS-101 spacewalk. Some of these were locked for up to a minute and a half.

An interesting side note to this event is that in early January 2002, an employee of NASA working inside Mission Control Houston, e-mailed me asking if I had seen and recorded the strange object he and his colleagues had seen on THEIR monitor screens that night! There ensued a discreet partnership, and he offered tips on when and where to look for more anomalies during the flight of STS-109 in March 2002.

Several months later, and after many e-mails were exchanged between us, he wrote to say that he'd been threatened and could no longer have contact with me. Sad to say, I never heard from this brave and honest soul again.

***

At all times during the STS-101 spacewalk 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.)

Bell shaped objects were seen during other human spaceflight activities in the year 2000. These are incidents which appears to be a close match to the STS-101 Spacewalk object. These are here at Project P.R.O.V.E. They are:

A Chinese Rocket Test & An U.F.O.

&

STS-92 Bell Shaped Object

There have also been verbal communications between Astronauts and Cosmonauts, suggesting the presence of objects in nearby space during spacewalks. Two such occurances are here at Project P.R.O.V.E. They are:

STS-100 "Hey Scott!"

&

ISS EVA 8a "Sasha's Dinosaurs"

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

© 2005 Jeff Challender