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.

Just after sunset, something weird began to occur in the TV broadcast of EVA 12b. As darkness closed in there were a flurry of light flashes, sometimes called the Martyn Stubbs "Second Phenomenon". I don't know what this phenomenon is specifically, but it does make for a fantastic light show in ISSy's color cameras at night. The scene was brightly lit by floodlights aboard ISSy, but it was definately night time. The strange light flashes continued for just under four minutes until the INCO cut off the TV feed. From that point, we had only the animated control room tracker to look at until ISSy cleared the area of the SAA. Then the "live" television signal was returned after it was "safe" to do so.

This particular case of the phenomenon was shown in black & white, and the flashes appear a bit washed out. In the past, I've seen this night-time phenomenon from black & white low light cameras aboard the Shuttles too. When all forms of Solar and artificial light are absent, the wonderful explosions of red, green, and blue are very pretty. Add to this the flashing of "comet" and other shapes in white.

The entire sequence was broadcast "live" on NASA Select TV. The phenomenon seems to be associated with the South Atlantic Anomaly. This is a portion of the Earth's magnetic field which does not behave as the rest of the global field.

There was one item I noticed in this incident which I've not seen in other displays of this phenomenon. It was that this time the flashes seemed most prominent on, or around, the electricity producing solar panels. Could there be an electromagnetic connection of some sort?

This phenomenon, in my opinion, is natural. What is MOST strange about it, is that NASA seems to be determined to cover it up, just like the U.F.O. phenomenon. Why? Go ask NASA. That is, IF they'll resond to your question. When the subject is uncomfortable for them, they invariably ignore the query, and pretend it never came in...

A visual presentation of the event has been prepared for your study. Let's take a few moments to have a look now, shall we?

Frame 1. in this GIF indicates where ISSy (circled in yellow) was when the "live" feed was cut. The SAA is outlined in red.

Frame 2. illustrates how the INCO waited until ISSy was well clear of the SAA before restoring the downlink TV connection. WHY do they hide this phenomenon if it's just a natural effect caused by Earth itself?

One scientist in Australia claims these are caused by cosmic rays affecting the CCD in the camera. However, the manufacturer of the camera insists that this explanation is not possible for their equipment.

IF these flashes were caused by cosmic rays affecting the cameras, then WHY is it ONLY seen in this mysterious region known as the South Atlantic Anomaly? Seems to this writer that such a localized phenomenon could not be the result of a universal thing like cosmic rays. Those are found EVERYWHERE.

And if this were merely a cosmic ray effect, WHY does NASA take such obvious steps to cover it up?

Perhaps some day we'll have the truth about this strange visual phenomenon. In the mean time, you can just enjoy the beautiful light show provided by the mysteries of outer space!

This same phenomenon was seen during other occasions in manned space flight. See these examples below.

Soyuz TMA-5 Docking

Soyuz TMA-4 Undocking

STS-114

ISS Expedition 11

STS-101

***

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