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 9 Crew came aboard. The Station had nearly doubled in size, with a large increase in capability.

Expedition 9 initiated with the launch of Soyuz TMA-4 atop a Starsem booster from Baykonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, on 18 April 2004 at 10:19 PM CDT (03:19 19 April GMT). Aboard were Station and Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka, and Flight Engineer Mike Fincke. In the third seat was ESA Astronaut Andre Kuipers of the Netherlands, on the Delta Mission. They spent the next two days chasing ISSy for rendezvous and docking, which took place at 12:01 AM (05:01 GMT) on 21 April. The three men were warmly greeted by the outgoing crew of Expedition 8. These were Commander Mike Foale and Flight Engineer Alexander "Sasha" Kaleri. A week of joint operations ensued, with the station being finally handed over to the Expedition 9 crew. Andre Kuipers, and the Expedition 8 crew entered their Soyuz TMA-3 vehicle to return to Earth on 29 April 2004.

During their six month stay aboard, the Expedition 9 crew carried out Four EVAs (Extra-Vehicular Activity or spacewalk) and an extensive but flexible program of science. These included some 21 different experiments in five categories. These were Bioastronautics, the Physical Sciences, Space Product Development, Space Flight, and Space Biology. More can be learned about the Expedition 9 Science program Here, and Here.

With the arrival of the Expedition 10 Crew, and Cosmonaut Yuri Shargin of the Russian Space Forces, on 15 October 2004, the final week of Expedition 9 was at hand. As is usual practice, the two crews worked together for a week to familiarize the new men with their home in orbit. On 23 October at 4:08 PM CDT (21:08 GMT), the Soyuz TMA-4 undocked from ISSy for the return home. Cosmonaut Shargin was aboard with the Expedition 9 crew for the ride. A safe landing was achieved near Arkalyk Kazakhstan on 23 October at 7:36 PM CDT (00:36 24 October GMT). Expedition 9 was a productive and successful mission to ISS, and all ended very well. Total flight duration: 187 days 21 hours 17 minutes.

The EVA lasted four and one half hours. The truly disappointing thing about it is, that in all that time, only 12 minutes and 24 seconds featured live actual views of the crew at work in space, beginning about 52 minutes after the airlock hatch was opened. That’s IT! 12 minutes 24 seconds.

There were two anomalous object seen during that 12 1/2 minute bloc. Both appeared at just about the one hour mark, and within approximately 90 seconds of each other. This article will examine the first of them. It emerged from "behind" the Zvezda Service Module and sped out of the field of view toward the upper left quadrant.

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 from this EVA) So we can rule out control thruster firings as a factor in the speed and motion of the anomalies seen during ISS EVA 9c.

Astronomical bodies are just plain out of the question. Stars, Planets, and the Moon don't pass across field of view this fast. Meteors are invisible above the atmosphere. Satellites are not a factor here either. NASA and the Russian space agency take great care to track these and make certain they don't come within 50 miles of ISSy.

So, let's have a look at the visual presentation prepared for you now, OK?

These two frames were captured from the 12 minute 24 second segment just before the camera aboard ISSy was turned on, and immediately after it was cut off.

At the onset, ISSy was high over Siberia, and in range of Russian ground stations. By the time the TV feed ended, ISSy was well east of the Japanese home islands.

This object presents a dilemma. It appears from the area of that tool sack, which the debunkers will surely say was its source. BUT, the tool sack hasn't any way to launch something at such high speed. Because of this unexplained speed, I classify the object as unknown.

There was a major difference between EVA 9c, and most others I've followed. It was not televised! Almost every spacewalk is covered on TV virtualy from beginning to end. NOT this one. We were granted a mere 12 minutes 24 seconds of television, and that was it. There were six brief exceptions lasting a few seconds, but they were useless. The story of this aspect of EVA 9c is "The UN-Covered EVA".

For even more of the EVA 9c story, see these pages as well.

"EVA 9c - Gennady's Dinosaurs"

"EVA 9c - The Horizontal Object!"

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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