Space Shuttle Atlantis rocketed from launch pad 39B, Kennedy Space Center at 4:04 AM CDT (9:04 GMT), on 12 July 2001. ISS Station Assembly flight 7 A, this was mission STS-104, the 105th Shuttle flight. Atlantis and crew spent nearly two days catching up with ISSy. Docking took place on 13 July, at 10:08 PM CDT (3:08 14 July GMT). The Crew were enthusiasticly welcomed aboard ISS by the Expedition 2 Crew.

The main porpose for this flight was to deliver the new Quest Joint Airlock module. This unit allows for EVAs (Extra Vehicular Activity or spacewalk) to be mounted from ISSy using American EMU and Russian Orlan space suits. The Quest module is seen at right. The Joint Airlock is 20ft long, 13ft in diameter and weighs 6.5 tons. It was built at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) by Boeing. The airlock has two main components: a crew airlock and an equipment airlock for storing EVA gear. STS-104 also carried a Spacelab Pallet with four High Pressure Gas Assembly containers that were attached to the exterior of the airlock.

Three EVAs were carried out by Astronauts Michael Gernhardt and James Reilly. On the first EVA, they assisted the two Robotic Arms (operated by ISS Flight engineer Susan Helms & Astronaut Janet Kavandi) during the installation of the Quest Module. The other two EVAs concentrated on finishing the installation of the High Pressure Gas Assembly containers, applying handrails, and other hardware associated with the airlock module. The third spacewalk saw first test of the Quest Airlock, and it performed very well.

Undocking from ISSy occurred on 21 July, at 11:54 PM CDT (4:54 22 July GMT). The final two days on orbit were spent resting and conducting various science experiments. Atlantis landed safely back at Kennedy Space Center on 24 July 2001, at 10:41 PM CDT (3:41 25 July GMT). Total flight duration: 12 days 18 hours 37 minutes. All mission goals were met, and the Quest Module was joined by the Russian PIRS Docking & Airlock compartment, on ISS Assembly Flight 4r, a month later via unmanned launch atop a Proton booster from Baykonur Cosmodrome.

This incident, the Shuttle/Station Complex was flying high over the southwest Pacific Ocean west of Chile. It was here that an anomalous object was seen hovering off the tail of Atlantis. This event was somewhat similar to "The Hovering Orb" incident of STS-96, in June 1999. There was an important difference though. In the STS-96 case the object was pulsating slowly. The STS-104 object did not. It was steady on in its constance; that is until the live feed was suddenly cut like a light being switched off! Immediately after the object was taken away, NASA Select TV gave us what appears to be a stock footage substitution. You'll see what I mean by that later.

At the beginning of this event, we had a nice full screen view of Mission Control Center in Houston. Amazingly, an anomalous object could be seen on the big screen at the front of the room. It hung out in space beyond the vertical tail of Atlantis for a while, then it was lost to us due to what appears to be some suspicious activity at NASA TV. Very soon after this, the scene changed to a totally different scene...at night, IN AN INSTANT! This just doesn't happen in the real world ladies and gentlemen. It's as if someone had the power to "fast forward" the clock a half hour, with no detectable passage of the time elapsed.

Mission Control Center, Houston Texas. There are three screens on the front wall of this hall, and we will be watching the one to the extreme right. (Yellow Rectangle)

Next is a quick look at the object. It was taken away from us by a sudden substitution made by NASA, to what I strongly suspect is footage recorded at a different time.

Motion would be a characteristic of ice chips or debris. Anything celestial, such as the Moon or Venus, would drift slowly across the field of view due to the orbital velocity of the two spacecraft on orbit. An astronomical object takes many hours to traverse the heavenly vault for us on Earth each night. At the 17,500 mph (28,000 km/h) orbital speed of Shuttle, it only takes a maximum of 45 minutes. A single orbit of Earth takes 90 minutes, half of which is on the night side of our planet. This means we would see its motion easily with the naked eye. This object is absolutely stationary thoughout its appearance here. That suggests that it is orbiting Earth on EXACTLY the same orbit as our spacecraft.

Next is an animated GIF depicting the entire event from beginning to end.

This is not natural at all. The GIF does speed up the chain of events. The entire sequence actually lasted about two minutes in real time. It is compressed here so that you may see it all in a matter of seconds.

Next we have a wee animation to remind us to watch a certain fellow at his desk as the scene on the front screen makes a sudden change.

Did someone NOT want us to see that object hanging in the depths of space? Were steps taken to keep us from watching what it might do? What right does NASA have to decide what we can, and can't see?

We PAY for the space program!

IT'S OURS!

NASA, the Shuttle, and the International Space Station are CIVILIAN programs! It's not as if it were a top secret military affair. At least that's how the Space Program is presented to the public.

IT'S OUR RIGHT TO SEE EVERYTHING THAT'S GOING ON UP THERE!

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© 2004 Heavens-Above

Here we have a chart showing what was visible in the sky that evening. The Moon was a fresh crescent at the extreme western horizon, which was obviously to the right of the field of view during the event. Mars and the stars are simply too small and dim to be a factor here. So the object off the tail was, with near certainty, not astronomical.

A very thought provoking event, if I do say so myself.

If "they" weren't hiding something, then why the switch to "stock footage"?

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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.)

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

© 2005 Jeff Challender