By now I'm sure we've all heard about STS-107 / Columbia and the tragic fate suffered by her and her Brave Last Crew on 1 February 2003. We'll touch only briefly on that painful chapter in the history of space exporation here. Suffice it to say, that until that last terrible moment, the flight of STS-107 was all routine for the Astronauts aboard. They did their jobs, carried out the various planned experiments, and enjoyed their time on orbit.

It took me nearly two years to work up the courage to comb through my 38 six hour VHS tapes of the STS-107 flight. Until September 2004, the prospect of watching all those smiling Astronauts, and knowing they were gone, was just too much heartache to bear. It also seemed to me that some might think it rather morbid (and disrespectful to those lost) to expose the anomalies and inconsistencies which appeared on those tapes. But I feel now that Shuttle flight STS-114 has been successful, it's safe to say we have "moved on". ...........I sincerely hope you'll agree.

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Space Shuttle Columbia lifted off from Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, in Florida at 9:39 AM CST (15:39 GMT) on 16 January 2003. At the time, no one knew it was to be her tragic last flight. Shortly after liftoff, a chunk of insulation broke free of the External Tank and fatally impacted the leading edge of the left wing.

The Crew of STS-107 conducted in excess of 80 different scientific experiments during their mission. These included Earth and space science, advanced technology development, and (ironically!) astronaut health and safety. Most of the experiments were located in the SPACEHAB Research Double Module (RDM), in Columbia's cargo bay. This was the only flight for the RDM.

To allow for research to be carried out on a 24 hour a day basis, the crew were separated into two teams; Red Team and Blue Team.

Columbia broke up on re-entry over Texas 16 minutes before her scheduled landing at the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility on 1 February 2003. Total flight duration: 15 days 22 hours 20 minutes. All aboard lost their lives. There were no more Shuttle flight for the next 30 months to allow NASA the time necessary to evaluate the accident, and implement procedures to prevent a repetition of the disaster.

This page is concerned with some nice pictures of the Moon, taken during the last flight of Shuttle Columbia. They are also here for comparison with some of the anomalies seen on other pages in this site. Many times debunkers, for lack of any rational answer, will fall back to claiming the unknowns are simply the Moon mis-identified. We take great pains to avoid mis-identifications here, and try our best to filter out such explanations as the Moon, stars, planets, or ice and debris near the spacecraft.

So, let us proceed to the photos. The first few were shot by the payload bay cameras, under the supervision of the INCO.

(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.)

This shot of the Moon was taken a week later, and was done using a high resolution hand held film camera by a crewmember aboard Columbia. It was just too beautiful to reduce in size.

Note that, as seen ABOVE the atmosphere, the Moon is BROWN rather than grey or white. We hope you have enjoyed this little presentation. It should also serve as a comparison for those times when the debunkers will try to explain anomalies as the Moon. With this page, you can see what the Moon really looks like from orbit, and decide for yourself.

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© 2005 Jeff Challender