The flight of STS-121 (ISS Mission ULF-1.1) opened with the liftoff of Space Shuttle Discovery from Launch Complex 39-B , Kennedy Space Center, at 1:36 PM CDT (18:36 GMT) on 4 July 2006. Appropriately, this was American Independence Day as well. After some 9 minutes of powered flight, MECO (Main Engine Cut Off) occurred, and orbit was achieved.

As with the previous Shuttle flight, STS-114, a great deal of attention was focused on the performance of the foam insulation on the External Fuel Tank. Changes and modifications to this component were successful, and after extensive on-orbit inspection of the heat shield, NASA engineers pronounced Discovery safe for re-entry at mission end.

Docking with ISS was accomplished on 6 July, roughly two days after launch. The CREW of Discovery were welcomed by ISS Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov, and Flight Engineer Jeffrey Williams, in the traditional Russian way, with the offering bread and salt. This flight also delivered ESA (European Space Agency) Astronaut Thomas Reiter, of Germany, to join the ISS Expedition 13 crew. His addition marked the first time ISSy has boasted a crew of three since spring 2003, following the loss of Columbia.

Discovery brought with her the Italian built MPLM (Multi-Purpose Logistics Module) "Leonardo". This spaceborne "moving van" contained around 15 tons (13,600kg) of equipment and supplies for ISSy. Once the new materiel was unloaded, superfluous equipment crowding the limited space aboard ISSy was stowed for return to Earth.

Three EVAs (Extra-Vehicular Activity or spacewalk) were mounted in US spacesuits from the Quest Airlock. Astronauts Piers Sellers and Michael Fossum tested methods for repairing damaged heat shield components, and performed repairs to the Mobile Transporter, damaged by accident in December 2005. In addition, the two Astronauts tested the feasability of using the 50 foot (15.24m) robotic arm extension. This extension was used with a special camera to inspect the belly of the orbiter for damage. In this case, engineers at Houston wanted to know if extended arm could be effectively used to carry Astronauts on the end. It was hoped that they would be able to work from this lofty perch. The experiment was a success.

After some nine days of joint operations with the ISSy crew, farewells were made, and Discovery separated from ISSy at 4:08 AM CDT (9:08 GMT) 15 July 2006 to fly solo for

the next two days. STS-121 came to an end with the safe landing of Discovery at the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility , runway 15, at 8:15 AM CDT (13:15 GMT) on 17 July 2006. This mission was highly successful, the brave crew accomplishing every task mapped out for them. Total duration: 12 days 18 hours 38 minutes. The fact that Discovery and her crew performed so flawlessly also opened the door for the resumption of ISS construction flights again. These had been suspended since the fatal loss of Columbia in February 2003. Congratulations are in order for all concerned.

This event is actually two-fold. One part taking place during Apollo 16, in April 1972, and the other from STS-121, on 10 July 2006. For more than thirty years, many people have pointed to the "saucer" footage* from Apollo 16 as proof of U.F.O.s in outer space. I myself was quite intrigued. That is, until recently.

* 376kb zip file

This incident was broadcast "live" on NASA Select TV, and in color as well. The INCO was in control of Discovery's payload bay camera whilst the event took place. I do not know the exact time and date for the Apollo 16 film. On the internet, it is variously attributed to Lunar approach, and from the beginning of the trip back to Earth.

We will see evidence here that the two objects are indeed related, but not as one might think. I believe it can be shown that they are both tricks of light, and not anomalous after all. It can be a bitter disapointment to many who WANT the objects to be otherworldly spacecraft, but in the study of U.F.O.s, one must face ALL the facts boldly.

A visual presentation has been put together for your study. We hope that it makes the situation clear enough. So, let's have a closer look at this event now, shall we?

Here we have a frame of the animated tracker used by NASA to show where the Shuttle/Station Complex is at any given time.

Note the YELLOW circle denoting the location of Discovery and ISSy at the time of the event. In this case, the spacecraft were over the Pacific Ocean, southeast of Australia. The time was near local midnight.

Now we have this animation to familiarize you with the scene of the event. The "object" is circled in YELLOW at upper center, an Astronaut is located behind the box at left center, and one of the payload bay cameras, with its ring shaped floodlight is at dead center.

This is the event, at about 5x normal speed. The entire incident took several minutes. Note that as the object comes into view, there are distinct changes in lighting of the entire scene. Well go into this more later.

The giveaway is how the "object" appears in exact synchronization to the motion of the lighting from upper right.

Follow the changes in lighting with the YELLOW arrow. Also note that the box at left, and the payload bay bulkhead beyond, also experience drastic changes in light angles.

Same as above without the arrow. I believe the moving light source is almost surely the robotic arm traversing outside the field of view. As this happened, the floodlight(s) mounted on it caused the lens artifact which appears to be an anomaly.

Finally, note also that the "shadowing" on the "object" is exactly opposite the light source from upper right. A solid object would necessarily be illuminated from the direction of the light source.

This is the now famous "saucer" footage shot near the Moon by the Apollo 16 crew in 1972.

Notice that as the camera panned away and back, the object was fading into non-existence? This is the same behavior observed in the STS-121 event, but in reverse.

Next, event more evidence of lens artifacts being involved.

Now, we offer you a comparison between the best frames from both incidents.

I believe the case for these "objects" being little more than lens artifacts brought on by tricks of light has been made.

So, in order to be completely unbiased when trying to identify that which at first seems strange, I have presented this case to show how easily the human eye can mistake something not so unusual for an U.F.O.!

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At all times during this incident (Shuttle, not Apollo), 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.

© 2006 Jeff Challender