After months of delay due to a damaging hail storm, and repairs to the External Fuel Tank, Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off from Launch Pad 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The time was 18:38 CDT, 8 June 2007 (01:38, 9 June GMT). After some nine minutes of powered flight, the main engines were shut down, the External Tank jettisonned, and Atlantis was in orbit, marking the beginning of Mission STS-117.

The now customary heat shield inspection took place on the first full day in space. The nose cap, wing leading edges, and belly tiles revealed no damage at all. However, a thermal protection blanket on the left (Port) OMS nacelle proved to have peeled up a little (Reference Photo 1). Although not rated as critical, engineers decided that it would be repaired later in the mission.

After an almost two day chase, Commander Rick Sturckow, and Pilot Lee Archambault, flew Atlantis to a perfect docking to ISSy at 14:36 CDT on 10 June 2007 (19:36 GMT). Her crew was greeted warmly by the ISS Expedition 15 crew, consisiting of Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov, and Flight Engineer Sunita Williams. Williams, by the end of her increment aboard the station, held the female records for most time on orbit (194 days, 18 hours, 58 minutes), and most time on EVA (29 hours, 17 minutes).

The primary task of STS-117 was delivery and installation of the S3/S4 Truss Segment (pdf) and deployment of a new solar array. Also, the remaining solar array atop the S6 Truss, mounted on the Destiny Laboratory Module during STS-97, was to be retracted for later relocation (Reference Photo 2). Four EVAs (Extra-Vehicular Activity or spacewalk) were mounted from the Quest Joint Airlock Module for this purpose, and all were successful (Reference Photo 3). During the previously unscheduled fourth EVA, the thermal blanket on the left OMS nacelle was also repaired. Additionally, several other smaller tasks were completed. EVA #1 - 6 hrs. 12 mins., EVA #2 - 7 hrs. 16 mins., EVA #3 - 7 hrs. 58 mins., EVA #4 - 6 hrs. 29 mins. for a total of 27 hours 55 minutes. The EVAs were carried out by two alternating teams of Astronauts, consisting of Jim Reilly and Danny Olivas, as well as Patrick Forrester and Steve Swanson.

During this flight, Astronaut Sunita Williams, aboard since STS-116 visited in December 2006, was replaced as second Flight Engineer of the Expedition 15 crew by Astronaut Clayton Anderson. Anderson would remain aboard for his six month increment when Atlantis departed.

Over the night of 12 June (STS-117 Flight Day 5), ISSy suffered a major crash of ALL guidance and control computers on board. These included both Russian and American machines. Gound control teams, on both sides of the world, scrambled to understand what happened, and to rectify the situation before Atlantis was scheduled to undock. During the crisis, power to the Russian modules was severely curtailed. Atlantis supplemented power to the station from her onboard Fuel Cells. Many Shuttle systems were shut down, and docked operations were extended an extra day, in order to facilitate the operation. The problems were finally solved via a team effort by all concerned.

Following nine days of joint docked operations, the Atlantis crew returned to the Shuttle, and closed hatches. Astronaut Sunita Williams said goodbye to her Expedition 15 crewmates, and prepared to go home after six months aboard ISSy. Undocking took place at 9:42 CDT (14:42 GMT) on 19 June, with the usual post-undocking fly-around of the station.

A final inspection of the heat shield for possible micro-meteroid damage was conducted. Atlantis passed with flying colors. For the next three days, the Shuttle flew solo, with the crew taking a bit of rest before packing up for return to Earth as scheduled on 21 June.

Weather at the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility was not acceptable, however, so Atlantis was waved off for 24 more hours. Weather was still outside limits on Friday 22 June, and Mission Controllers decided to bring Atlantis down at Edwards Air Force Base (NASA's Dryden Research Center) in the California desert. The spacecraft landed safely on Runway 22 at 14:50 CDT (19:50 GMT). Total flight duration was 13 days, 20 hours, 12 minutes. The mission was completely successful, meeting every goal, and then some.

Atlantis was returned to Kennedy Space Center in July 2007. The Shuttle rode "piggyback" on a modified Boeing 747 jet. (Reference Photo 4)

Before going further with this story, it is highly recommended that you read "NASA Secrecy & The ZOE". This article will explain WHY the "live" television broadcast from Atlantis on 10 June 2007 is so important.

NASA have long claimed that, (save for extenuating circumstances, such as a critical spacewalk for example) they have no way of communicating normally from within the so-called "Zone Of Exclusion". This is absurd! As you found out from the article, they have had multiple lines of contact with spacecraft in this area for over a decade. Yet, the myth of the ZOE continues to be foisted upon the tax-paying public.

The downlink television, from Space Shuttle Atlantis in the early morning hours of Sunday, 10 June 2007 was siginificant. Not only was there no critical activity requiring use of TDRS-Z, but the onboard crew were actually asleep! (TDRS-Z is only one satellite in a system known as TDRSS) The broadcast, allowed us by the INCO in Houston, showed the plains of northwest India, the Himalayan Mountains, Tibet, and western China. What made the video so striking for this writer is that it was the VERY FIRST TIME, in over TEN YEARS of recording manned spaceflight, that these areas were shown!

I've seen numerous examples of TV across the ZOE in the past. Many instances are dealt with in the pages here at Project P.R.O.V.E. But, in the past, these sorties across the ZOE either encompassed spacewalks, or robotic arm maneuvers with station hardware, and included no views of Earth below, or they showed the relatively blank scenes of the Indian Ocean. NEVER did they have views of the Indian Sub-Continent, the Himalayan Mountains, or Tibet before.

The incident proves, once again, beyond a shadow of a doubt that our manned spacecraft have undiminished Ku-Band television capability within the Zone Of Exclusion. This capability even extends to mere sightseeing from space whilst the crew were sleeping.

Let's take a good look at the evidence for this now, OK?

These two frames are taken from the original VHS tape recorded live at the time. The RED outline delineates the ZOE itself.

They represent the animated tracker used by NASA to show where our spacecraft are at any given time. As can be seen, Atlantis was passing through the so-called ZOE the entire time in question.

This animated GIF is composed of 30 frames captured from the original VHS tape recorded live at the time. The represent some nine minutes of uninterrupted downlink TV from inside the so-called ZOE.

IF what NASA has claimed for many years is true; that they don't have this ability under normal circumstances, then HOW can this TV sequence exist?

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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.

© 2007 Jeff Challender