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. The rest of the time was mostly devoted to heavy use of 3D computer animation, and monotonous views of Mission Control Houston, and it’s Russian counterpart (TsUP) outside Moscow in the suburb of Korolev.

Counting the 12 1/2 minute bloc, there were seven brief exceptions to this rule. We'll deal with these momentarily. First...

Let's have a look at what NASA thinks we'd rather see than live spacewalk coverage, shall we?

At left is an example of the 3D computer generated animation used so heavily during ISS EVA 9c.

Such images should be used to explain, and familiarize. Instead, these images are frequently substituted for actual live TV.

Yes, as stated earlier there were 12 minutes 24 seconds of actual television of the ISS Crew working on the hull of Zvezda. During that single bloc of "live" TV, there were two anomalies seen, and a strange cryptic conversation between Commander Padalka and TsUP. Perhaps this was just too much for the INCO, and he decided that enough was enough.

There is reason to believe that at least SOME of these views were S-Band still shots. One can’t be sure.

There was a very clear shot at night shown as Commander Padalka was talking about his "scissors" with TsUP (Seen below). But it was as bad an angle as is possible during an EVA where the crew are on not only the far side of the solar panels, but on the other side of the Zvezda service module as well. I must wonder WHY this was considered a valid camera angle for spacewalk coverage. This wasn’t coverage; it was avoidance!

There were at least TWO cameras, mounted at the end and elbow on the Canadian built Canadarm II, with a perfect panoramic view to catch almost all of the action. But this option was only used for the single 12 ½ minute segment showing the two brave spacemen at work. Once again, this situation begs the question…WHY?

There was one other view provided. And there was something fishy about this too. At roughly the hour and a half mark for the EVA, was a horribly “snowy” night shot (Seen below) which lasted a mere three minutes. It was so masked with “snow” that one couldn’t make out anything in the field of view.

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. The Sun was setting at that point. NASA seems to have a real problem with showing us the night, by the way.

At left is what we were very briefly shown during the "Dinosaur Scissors" conversation. In this case, the worst possible angle was chosen. The two men were not only behind these solar panels, but on the OTHER SIDE of the module. This view lasted only a few seconds before being cut off.

This same scene was shown four separate times during the EVA. It may, or may not, have been a still frame rather than "live".

At the 1 hour 33 minute mark in the spacewalk, the camera was turned on for less than three minutes to reveal this scene. The view is almost totally obscured with that nasty mask of "snow" NASA claims they can do nothing about.

What is in this field of view? There is no way to tell. It's too corrupted for us to identify anything in it.

As you can see, the station was over the Pacific Ocean west of Chile in South America.

Now, “The plot thickens” as it were. Some two orbits, and about three hours later, we were treated to indoor views of the Unity Node, and Destiny Laboratory with hatches closed for safety whilst the crew were outside and the station uninhabited. Below are the two CRYSTAL CLEAR shots of the interior of these modules, beamed via TDRSS from almost the exact same location on the globe.

These beautifully clear inside shots of the Destiny and Unity modules were broadcast about five minutes after the PIRS hatch had been resealed. The men were busy re-pressurizing the compartment when these pictures were shown.

ISS was once again west of Chile, and over the South Pacific Ocean. One wonders WHY NASA can show us crystal clear views INSIDE the station, at night, but cannot give us such pictures from OUTSIDE. Go figure...Is there something they don’t want us to see?

We have established that NASA restricted the actual live downlink coverage of the Expedition 9 crew at work outside the station. They further manipulated the few angles and views we had later. What they did give us was mostly computer generated animations, and boring scenes at Mission Control Center. The public was probably lucky to get ANY coverage of EVA 9c from 3 August 2004 at all. The previous EVA, for repairs to the station itself, was PRE-EMPTED COMPLETELY.

I believe we have made a good case for some sort of deliberate shenanigans going on with the TV coverage of this spacewalk. That is why this article is in the "Cover-Up" section. For the rest of the EVA 9c story, see these pages here at Project P.R.O.V.E.

"EVA 9c - Gennady's Dinosaurs"

"EVA 9c - The Fast Object!"

"EVA 9c - The Horizontal Object!"

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At all times during this incident, the camera and audio feed, were 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