On 31 October 2000 at 1:53 AM CST (7:53 GMT), ISS Expedition One aboard Soyuz TM-31, lifted off from the same historic facility (Baykonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan) used to send Yuri Gagarin into space on 12 April 1961. After two days spent chasing the station, Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko docked his vehicle to ISSy on 2 November 2000.

The first crew of the International Space Station consisted of one American Astronaut, Commander Bill Shepherd (Capt. USN), and two Russain Cosmonauts, Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko, and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev. All three could boast impressive previous space flight records.

Their mission was to be a busy one. It included activating life support systems in the Russian modules, hosting no less than three Space Shuttle visits, addition of the US Destiny laboratory module, and a science program. Although one EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity or spacewalk) had been planned, it was later decided to delay it for a future mission.

STS-97 arrived on 2 December 2000, spending seven days installing the P-6 Truss to the Unity Node, as well as the new Solar Power Array, longest (240 ft - 73 m) man-made structure structure in space to date. STS-98 docked to ISSy on 9 February 2001, delivering the Destiny Lab Module, and carrying out three spacewalks. The last Shuttle flight to visit the station during the Expedition One increment was STS-102, which docked on 10 March 2001. Discovery brought with her the Expedition Two crew to relieve Shepherd and his men. She also carried a large load of supplies in the first use of an MPLM.

The Science Program included experiments in physical science and space flight. The most important was the Protein Crystal Growth experiment. The list of experiments on this first mission was somewhat limited due to the fact that this crew had a lot of work to do involving set-up and activation of most of the station systems. They also set-up and activated the new Destiny laboratory module on this flight.

The three men took their ride home on Space Shuttle Discovery at the close of the STS-102 flight to ISSy. They handed over the station to the ISS Expedition Two crew in March of 2001, and returned to Earth. Total time on orbit: 140 days 23 hours 38 minutes.

Onboard Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev was in radio communication with Russian Mission Control Center (TSuP) in Korolev, a suburb of Moscow. I'm not sure as I don't speak Russian, but I believe a Russian media interview was in progress at the time. As Krikalev spoke, he was operating a video camera mounted outside the station, whose signal was relayed via Mission Control Center in Houston. (The same camera was in use during the STS-106 docking incident less than three months earlier, when a cigar shaped object was seen.)

Soon, an anomalous object went whizzing past in the distance. This object was not a meteor, as they are invisible in space. There is no air friction to heat them, and make them emit light. It is also not manmade. Manmade spacecraft ALWAYS move in an easterly direction, as the staion itself is seen to be doing. This is because rockets are launched to the east to add a 750 to 1000 mph "kick" to the payload, which is "borrowed" from the rotation of Earth itself. The exception to this are "Polar Orbit" satellites which move from North to South or vice versa. At the time of this event, Shuttle Endeavour (STS-97) was still several thousand miles away, working on approach and rendezvous scheduled for the next day, Saturday 2 December 2000. There was, then, no viable source for ice chips or debris, so often seen in association with Shuttles. ISSy does use small thrusters occasionally for attitude control, but for the most part this task is carried out by internal gyroscopes to conserve fuel. In any case, the object appears to be travelling parallel in an opposite direction to ISSy, NOT coming FROM it.

Let's take a look at the visual presentation which has been prepared for you, OK?

In the upper left corner is the edge of the Unity Node. The glowing arc to the left-middle is the curvature of the Earth in sunset.

The anomaly is inside the yellow circle, and the red arrow denotes its direction of travel (West). The orange arrow points out the direction of travel for ISSy (East).

Left to right in the picture above, the station components labeled for you in the animation.

1. Unity Node (First US Segment)

2. Zarya Module (FGB)

3. Zvezda Service Module (Living Quarters & Life Support)

4. Progress Supply Vehicle

This animated GIF shows us the "full view" as seen originally in the "live" NASA Select TV broadcast that day.

The anomaly passes by very fast in the distance. All of the animations are actually just a bit slower than the real time event.

This is the one and only event I have from the early days of ISS occupation. Shortly after this event, TV from ISS was sharply curtailed. It was then limited to staged events, Shuttle visits, and most of the Station mounted spacewalks. NASA's excuse for this was "crew privacy". It's understandable that the men up there should have privacy during their off time, but Astronauts and Cosmonauts know that their work day is public domain, and sign on expecting to be watched by the world. Something about it all smells of cover-up to me.

The daily commentary and information roundup offered Monday through Friday at 11:00 AM Central time since 2004, often shows a view of Earth in ISS cameras, but we have no way of knowing it to be truly live. There is every possibility that it's stock footage. There is a reason they call it NASA "SELECT" TV!

Due to it's trajectory and appearance, and after ruling out "the usual suspects", I have come to the conclusion that this object is an unknown.

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At all times during this incident, the video broadcast 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.

© 2005 Jeff Challender