At 5:42 AM CST (11:42 GMT), on the morning of 8 March 2001, Space Shuttle Discovery lit her mighty rockets and lifted off from the wetlands of Launch Complex 39B, Kennedy Space Center Florida. STS-102 spent the next 44 hours chasing the International Space Station, making rendezvous on 10 March. Docking to ISSy occured at 12:38 AM CST (8:38 GMT). The Crew of STS-102, along with the incoming ISS Expedition 2 Crew, were greeted by the ISS Expedition 1 Crew when the hatches were opened. All were rung aboard, in fine Naval tradition, by station Commander Bill Shepherd.

The primary purpose of ISS Assembly Flight 5A.1 was ISS Expedition Crew exchange. The first crew was going home, and the fresh second crew taking over for their increment. The Italian contribution to the ISS program is the MPLM, of which there are three. On this flight, the Leonardo MPLM "moving van" was employed for the first time. Carrying nearly 15 tons of supplies, the largest portion of the cargo was composed of instruments and equipment for bringing the Destiny Laboratory Module up to function. The Destiny Module had been delivered just a month earlier aboard STS-98.

Two EVAs (Extra Vehicular Activity or spacewalk) were carried out by Astronauts Andy Thomas, Susan Helms, Paul Richards, and Jim Voss. Both EVAs were successful, and included work on the MPLM to prepare it for docking to PMA-3. The spacewalks also accomplished preparation work for ISS Assembly Flight 6A, to come later.

STS-102 landed safely at Kennedy Space Center Runway 15 on 21 March 2001 at 1:33 AM CST (7:33 GMT). The Crew of Discovery flawlessly accomplished all of their assigned goals. Total flight duration was 12 days 19 hours 52 minutes. 

As the Shuttle flew over the State of Washington, a low-light black and white payload bay cameras was in use, pointing Earthward. It was zoomed in for a close look. The entire sequence was recorded on VHS tape, by this writer, from "live" broadcast on NASA Select TV.

As it would happen, something unusual took place at this time. Many objects, the majority of which were almost surely ice and/or debris, were moving about in the early morning Sun, while eastern Washington far below was still in pre-dawn darkness. However, there were THREE objects in the field of view which were almost certainly NOT ice and/or debris. The objects in question performed maneuvers which in my opinion are not possible for unpowered ice flakes. These things were starting, stopping, accelerating, and making sudden angled turns. Not your average behaviour for bits of ice. It's hard to imagine exactly HOW these three objects might have executed their observed motion due to a firing of the RCS ( Reaction Control System ) jets.

This event was the inspiration for Project P.R.O.V.E. As I watched the objects perform their strange antics, I thought of my good friend who lives in this region of eastern Washington; being overflown at that very moment. I wondered if, were he outdoors and looking heavenward at that particular moment, would he have seen these objects near Shuttle Discovery? Although there were numerous objects "buzzing" around, we will focus our attention on just two of them, in this examination of Part 2 of the Washington Sequence, for their anomalous behavior. ( Part 1 Here )

Below are some photos, and animated GIFs taken from the original raw tape. These are presented here for your perusal. Let's have a look together then, shall we?