Since 1 November 2000, the International Space Station has been manned continuously. At 11:04 PM CDT 30 September 2005 (04:04 1 October GMT), Soyuz TMA-7 lifted off atop a Starsem (a.k.a. Fregat) rocket booster from Baykonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. After nine minutes of powered flight, ISS Expedition 12 reached orbit and was on its way toward rendezvous and docking with the space station some two days later. Aboard were Soyuz Commander and Expedition 12 Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev, Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, and the world's third space tourist Gregory Olsen.

Docking with ISSy took place on 3 October at 12:27 AM CDT (05:27 GMT). Following routine safety checks, hatches between the two spacecraft were opened at 3:36 AM CDT (08:36 GMT). Expedition 11 crewmen Sergei Krikalev and John Phillips offered the traditional Russian welcoming ceremony of bread and salt to the new arrivals.

For eight days, the two crews and Greg Olsen worked together. Olsen carried out his own list of scientific experiments during his time aboard. After the transition week was over, Expedition 11 undocked and departed ISS in their Soyuz TMA-6 vehicle. They landed safely, along with space tourist Greg Olsen, back in Kazakhstan on 10 October 2005 at 8:09 PM CDT (01:09 11 October GMT).

During their six month stay on ISSy, McArthur and Tokarev carried out two EVAs (Extra-Vehicular Activity or spacewalk), a wide variety of science experiments, and managed ongoing maintenance of the orbiting complex.

The first EVA of the flight was conducted in US spacesuits from the Quest airlock on 7 November 2005. The second Expedition 12 EVA was carried out in Russian Orlan suits from the PIRS docking and airlock compartment on 3 February 2006. Both spacewalks were considered a success.

At the onset of Expedition 12, there was some doubt as to whether McArthur would be the last American on ISSy for some time. Agreements between Russia and the US were expiring. There was also political tension over Russian aid to Iran, against which the US government appears to have aggressive designs. The US/Russian Soyuz agreement has since been renewed for a time. Expedition 12 is still in progress as of this writing, so updates to this summary will be added as events unfold.

ISS EVA 12b was initiated when the Commander Bill McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev opened the hatch of the PIRS docking and airlock compartment at 4:44 PM CST (22:44 GMT) on 3 February 2006. Both men were clad in Russian Orlan spacesuits for this EVA. The first task at hand was to launch the creative SuitSat-1 into an independent orbit from ISSy. As the aged Orlan spacesuit tumbled off into space, Valery Tokarev was heard to say "Goodbye Mr. Smith" (MP3 file 83kb © 2006 Jeff Challender) (Click on "Goodbye Mr. Smith" at right for an animated GIF of SuitSat Launch). SuitSat-1 was stuffed with discarded clothes, ham radio gear, batteries, recorded greetings in six languages, and a CD with more than 300 images. Its radio failed after only two orbits, unfortunately.

The next activity on the agenda was to move a Strela (Russian for "Arrow") crane from the Zarya module, and install it with an adaptor to PMA-3 (Pressurized Mating Adaptor) between the Unity Node and Zarya. This to make room to temporarily store new debris shields to be delivered by STS-121 at a future date.

Following completion of the crane move, the two men advanced to the S-1 Truss segment to attempt applying a "safing bolt" to to an emergency cable cutter on the Mobile Transporter. On 16 December 2005, the cutter accidentally sliced through one of two power and data cables on the Mobile Transporter, and NASA wanted to ensure this didn't happen to the only remaining cable as well. McArthur was not able to complete this job, and ended up applying a temporary wire tie to secure the cable to a handrail until it can be safed at a another time.

Then, McArthur and Tokarev returned to the Zvezda module to recover a Russian bio-risk experiment, shoot a number of photos on the outside of the station, and finally return to the PIRS compartment. The hatch was closed at 9:27 PM CST (04:27 GMT 4 February) to end the 5 hour 23 minute spacewalk. It was the 64th spacewalk in support of station assembly and maintenance, the 36th staged from the station, and the 17th conducted from PIRS. EVA 12b was McArthur's 4th sojourn in a spacesuit, and Tokarev's 2nd.

Before the the PIRS compartment hatch was opened, a camera mounted on Canadarm 2 was trained on the airlock. In the field of view were two enigmatic lights above the Zarya main solar panel. These lights caught my eye as I was watching the action, and I had to take a closer look. It was quite a small appearing object, and appears to have even escaped detection by the censors at NASA. The anomaly changed shape numerous times during the 37 seconds it was in view before the INCO switched cameras. It did not travel in any direction the whole time, but remained stationary.

A visual presentation of this anomalous object is waiting for you below. Let's take a look at it now, OK?

What this object might be eludes me. The fact that it hung out there in space beyond the station and continued to change shape makes it very interesting. I've seen something similar to this event in another space flight. That was STS-98, five years previous to this, in February 2001. The incident is called "The Three Lights", and like this anomaly, appears to display structure. The strange behavior, and fact that it didn't move about means it was not astronomical. It wasn't the Moon, a planet, or star as these would have "drifted" across the field of view due to the 17,500 mph (28,000 km/h) velocity of ISSy on orbit. After careful study, I have also ruled out lens flare as the cause. So, for these reasons, I classify this anomaly as unknown.

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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.

© 2006 Jeff Challender