On 8 September 2000 at 7:46 AM CDT (12:46 GMT), Space Shuttle Atlantis was launched into orbit. She lifted off from Launch Complex 39A, at Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Florida, initiating the flight of STS-106. Atlantis spent the next two days catching up with the still unmanned space station. Rendezvous took place on 10 September, with final docking at 12:51 AM CDT (5:51 GMT)

The Mission (Assembly Flight 2A.2a) was the next in an ongoing series of flights to build and supply the International Space Station (ISS), and the Crew flawlessly performed all tasks on the agenda.

STS-106 was the next to last Shuttle flight to an unmanned International Space Station (ISS). A single EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity or spacewalk) carried out by Cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Astronaut Edward Lu. The two spacewalkers made the final cable connectons between the Zarya module (Russian word for 'SUNRISE') and the brand new service module named Zvezda (Russian word for 'STAR'), which was lauched from Baikonur Cosmodrome atop a Proton booster in July 2000. Another essential task which was completed by the STS-106 crew was the activation of the toilet facilities aboard Zvezda.

10,965 lbs. (4974 kg) of supplies and equipment were delivered by Atlantis to ISSy. Most of this contained in the SPACEHAB Logistics Double Module. In addition, the STS-106 crew unloaded an automated Russian cargo ship, called Progress, which docked to the station in July 2000.

The First Expedition Crew launched weeks later, in a Soyuz spacecraft atop a Starsem rocket booster, from Baykonur Cosmodrome, on 30 October 2000.

Undocking occurred at 10:46 PM 17 September (3:36 18 September GMT), with the Shuttle flying alone for the next 29 hours. Atlantis landed safely on Runway 15, Kennedy Space Center, at 3:56 AM EDT (7:56 GMT) 19 September 2000, for a total flight duration of 11 days 19 hours 12 minutes.

In this case, the Shuttle/Station Complex was on the southern most point of its orbit. Local time was sunset, and the Shuttle was over the southerly tip of South America. In fact, this was almost directly above the town of Punta Arenas Chile. All was pretty much routine.

The anomalous object is seen here in the yellow circle. The blackness in the back ground is the dark face of Earth just after sunset on the ground. I must emphasize once again, this is not a view of space!

Because of its altitude of 240+ miles (380+ km), the Shuttle/Station Complex was still in sunlight at the same time. This is why it can be seen with the naked eye when passing over ground based locations at twilight, morning and evening. Since the object is seen against the Earth, it cannot be the Moon, Planets, or stars.

The sundry objects in the forground near bottom screen are Shuttle equipment on the edge of the payload bay.

Astronomical objects seem to move across the sky as Shuttle speeds around Earth in her orbit. Also, notice how the object seems to just "turn on". Very strange indeed.

It has been suggested that this object is the Moon rising from behind the limb of Earth. Not possible, for two reasons.

One: If this were the Moon, the eastward motion of Atlantis would have caused it to appear to "drift" toward the left side of the screen. The object remains absolutely stationary throughout the entire event.

Two: The camera at this particular time is pointing at the darkened surface of Earth, and I don't believe you can see the Moon through solid rock!

These are the basics. There are other good reasons that this object cannot be the Moon. We will further examine the "Moon Explanation" further on in this article.

This is another 380% zoom. These frames were captured from about two minutes AFTER the object made its first appearance. The anomaly did not move one bit whilst it was in sight. Unfortunately, my zoom frame was a little off from its position in the first sequence above.

Above the atmosphere, in the vacuum of space, stars do NOT twinkle, let alone change shape like this thing does. From the vantage point of Shuttle on orbit the Moon would not behave this way either.

Throughout this incident, the INCO switched back and forth from full view, to Mission Control, and the animated tracking map. He changed views no less than EIGHT times before finally cutting off the "live" TV completely.

In this particular view from Houston, we can see that the two NASA workers appear to be WATCHING the anomaly, and perhaps even discussing it.

Now that you've had an opportunity to study the anomaly, let's move on to...

These four frames show us where the Shuttle/Station Complex was during the event.

Please note that the two spacecraft are "on their side", relative to the Earth, with the station itself pointing south. Therefore the payload bay camera in use during this incident was pointing nearly straight down, and a little towards South.

There is a VERY good chance that people on the ground in southern Chile could have SEEN this object in flight with the Shuttle/Station Complex a the moment it was flying overhead. This kind of random opportunity is precisely why Project P.R.O.V.E. was originally founded.

© 2004 Heavens-Above

As can be determined from this chart, the Moon was just rising in the northeastern sky at the time of the event. It was a waning gibbous Moon, three days past full. So its shape to the eye would be far from a nice ROUND disk. And REMEMBER, the camera was pointing DOWN and to the SOUTH. The just risen Moon was to the NORTHEAST!

One must also take into account the fact that the object was absolutely stationary for many minutes. At the orbital velocity of Atlantis, the Moon WOULD have been in motion relative to the shuttle. The object did not move one iota for the entire time it was in sight.

None of the planets were in the sky at that time and place. Stars were out, but the camera was trained on the darkened Earth below, not out into the heavens. None of the stars and planets would have been seen by the color camera aboard Atlantis in any case. The color camera aboard Shuttle's just aren't sensitive enough. Only the black & white low-light cameras see the stars and planets. The color units CAN see the Moon, but only when pointed in the CORRECT direction, which was not the case this time.

This atlas map gives us a look at the area of Earth in question. The yellow circle denotes Punta Arenas Chile, over which the two spacecraft were flying at the time of the event.

Now it becomes a little more plain. The yellow arrow points out the direction in which the Moon could be seen at the time. The Moon was to be found in a completely different direction from the camera angle.

Using a popular software program, I have superimposed a frame containing the anomaly over one from before sunset. This picture proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the object appears BETWEEN the Shuttle and Earth. In addition, due to its lack of relative motion, the object is on the SAME orbit with Atlantis! What more can I say?

Other than...

***

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

At all times during this event, 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.)

© 2005 Jeff Challender