The International Space Station (ISS) has been occupied continuously since 1 November 2000, with the arrival of the Expedition 1 Crew. Much had changed by the time the Expedition 8 Crew came aboard. The Station had nearly doubled in size.

The Crew lifted off from Baykonur Cosmodrome on 18 October 2003 at 12:38 AM CDT (5:38 GMT). Soyuz TMA-3 rode to orbit in about nine minutes of powered flight atop a Soyuz Starsem booster. Inside were Soyuz Commander Alexander "Sasha" Kaleri, & Mission Commander Michael Colin Foale. Occupying the third seat, and representing the ESA on the Cervantes Mission, was Astronaut Pedro Francisco Duque of Spain.

Docking to ISSy's PIRS module took place on 20 October at 2:16 AM CDT (7:16 GMT). The new crew were greeted warmly by their predecessors of the Expedition 7 Crew. After a week of joint operations and handover of command, the Expedition 7 Crew, with ESA Astronaut Duque, closed hatches between the Station and Soyuz TMA-2 for their return home on 27 October.

During their six month stay aboard, Foale and Kaleri conducted an extensive program of scientific experiments and research. These included 27 different experiments in five categories of investigation.

A single EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity or spacewalk) was mounted from the PIRS docking and airlock module in Russian Orlan spacesuits on 26 February 2004. This was the first ever two man EVA executed from ISSy with no one left on board to monitor systems. This task fell to ground controllers (US - Russia) using remote telemetry. The spacewalk was cut short due to a malfunction in the cooling system of Kaleri's suit.

The arrival of the Expedition 9 Crew aboard Soyuz TMA-4 on 21 April 2004 signalled the final days of Expedition 8. After a week of joint activities, Expedition 8 (Along with visiting ESA Astronaut Andre Kuipers from the Netherlands) entered their Soyuz vehicle once again. Undocking occurred at 3:52 PM CDT (20:52 GMT) on 29 April. Despite a worrisome helium leak from a tank in the spacecraft, a safe landing near Arkalyk Kazakhstan was made at 7:11 PM CDT, 29 April 2004 (00:11 30 April GMT). Total flight duration: 194 days 18 hours 33 minutes.

On 26 February 2004, the crew of ISS Expedition 8 mounted the first two man EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity or spacewalk) since Expedition crews were reduced from three to two persons following the loss of Shuttle Columbia. Dubbed EVA 8a, this was the first time the ISS was left unmanned whilst the crew were outside. (Here are three sources for more information on ISS EVA 8a: NASA, Spaceref, Space.com) It was the 52nd EVA for ISS assembly, and the 27th mounted from the station itself.The PIRS airlock module hatch was opened at 3:17 PM CST (21:17 GMT) and the EVA ended at 7:12 PM CST (01:12 GMT 27 February).

Tasks accomplished included recovery and replacement of small modules containing materials being tested for long term exposure in the space environment. Also completed was deployment of the Matryoshka experiment. This is a torso shaped block of material which tests long term exposure to radiation by the human body.

The MPAC-SEEDS experiment from the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) was also removed and replaced. Another experiment, called Kromka, measuring residue accumulation from station thruster rockets was not completed this time out. EVA 8a had also been scheduled to remove some laser reflectors from the aft end of the Zvezda module. These had been installed to aid navigation of the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) due to arrive from the ESA at some point. This job was also left for another spacewalk. (Further description of the MPAC-SEEDS and Matryoshka experiments HERE)

The spacewalk lasted 3 hours 55 minutes, and was cut short because Cosmonaut Kaleri's Orlan space suit developed cooling problems.

There is reason to suspect that the spacewalk was truncated without completing all assigned tasks for another reason. Commander Michael Foale, and Flight Engineer Alexander "Sasha" Kaleri may have had an unexpected encounter.

During the EVA, there were no less than FIVE events featuring objects which should not have been present. They are not ice, debris, satellites, or heavenly bodies. On this page, we will concern ourselves with the first of the four.

Those more familiar with Shuttle operations might suspect this object to be simple ice or common debris. BUT, ISSy doesn't have what NASA Shuttle technicians jokingly refer to as "dandruff".

Water is NOT produced aboard the station as it is on Shuttles. Shuttles derive their electrical energy, and water supplies, from H2 /O2 Fuel Cells. These produce copious amounts of water, and when there's too much, it's unceremoniously dumped overboard.

This is absolutely not the case on the station. It uses passive solar arrays to generate energy from sunlight. Every drop of water used aboard ISSy must be imported from the ground. Visiting Shuttles also contribute water by filling large plastic conainers with the excess from the fuel cells. Water is so precious that even urine is converted back to H2 and O2 via electrolysis, employing a Russian device called Elektron. The oxygen is used for breathing, and the hydrogen jettisonned overboard. So, we have established that there is no source for loose flakes of ice coming from ISSy.

In the case of orbital debris, there simply is none MOST of the time. ISSy has been on orbit for a number of years now, and no new modules or components having loose bits of junk to float away, have been added since 2002. The only source for debris on EVAs would be released by the crew as they manipulate experiments, such as the unwrapping of the Matroshka experiment on this EVA. But that operation didn't come until AFTER this object was seen.

Additionally, the control thrusters aboard ISSy, used for maintaining control of station attitude, were inhibited during the time the crew were on the outside of the Zvezda module. This is for the safety of the spacewalkers themselves. (Example of an ISS Thruster Firing) So we can rule out control thruster firings as a factor in the speed and motion of the anomalies seen during ISS EVA 8a. Next are the actual words of the NASA commentator announcing that said thrusters were disabled for the duration of the EVA.

C = The NASA Commentator who remarks on events as they unfold

Hesitations and grammatical errors are left in as originally spoken. JC.

Transcript of Announcer's Words

C: "Russian Flight Controllers have disabled, uh, the thrusters on the Service Module itself, uh, to prevent any inadvertant thruster firings, uh, while the crew is in the vicinity of those thrusters along the outside of the Zvezda Service Module."

End Transcript

The chances of a satellite being this close to ISSy are actually very remote. NASA and the Russian Space Agency take great care to make sure that satellites don't come much closer than 50 miles (80 km) to the station. When a satellite looks like it will come too close for comfort, the fact is known well in advance, and the station is nudged out of the way.

The daylight color cameras used aboard ISSy are incapable of imaging anything smaller that the Moon when the Sun is shining. Even then, the camera must be centered on the Moon and telescopically zoomed to actually see it. So planets, stars, and the Moon are not the answer to this object.

Let's examine the the visual presentation on this event now, shall we?

The crewmen, and the major components are marked for you. The anomaly, on an almost horizontal course is circled in yellow. It's direction of travel is indicated by the red arrow. The blue box outlines the area of enlargement in the enhancements to come.

It's going to be very difficult for debunkers to explain this one. The "point of origin" doesn't correlate with with any place on ISS or her crew.

Taken by itself, this object isn't particularly impressive. But when viewed in the context of five events during the single EVA, it takes on more significance. Add to this the strange conversation Cosmonaut "Sasha" Kaleri had with Russian ground control just moments after several of these anomalies flew past, and you have what amounts to a virtual U.F.O. flap in orbit near ISSy.

The object seen in this, the second U.F.O. event of ISS EVA 8a, does not behave as anything normally encountered in space should. It presents a strobing aspect coupled with a trajectory which precludes a station based origin. For these reasons, I classify it as unknown.

For the complete story of the anomalies from this EVA, please see these other pages in the series.

ISS EVA 8a - Sasha's "Dinosaurs"

ISS EVA 8a - U.F.O. Event 1

ISS EVA 8a - U.F.O. Event 3

ISS EVA 8a - U.F.O. Event 4

ISS EVA 8a - U.F.O. Event 5

***

The five hour video tape of the space walk was generously made available to me by my esteemed friend and colleague, Dr. Oren Swearingen of Texas. Without his invaluable help, none of us would have found out about these incidents. Thank You Doctor!

At all times during this incident, the camera was under the control of the CATO 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