The 10th Expedition Crew to ISS lifted off in their TMA-5 Soyuz Vehicle, atop the venerable Starsem booster, from Baykonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 13 October 2004 at 10:06 PM CDT (3:06 14 October GMT). This marked the beginning of 193 days on orbit for this Crew. The crew of TMA-5 consisted of Cosmonauts Salizan Sharipov (Soyuz Commander - Expedition 10 Flight Engineer), Yuri Shargin (Russian Space Forces), and Astronaut Leroy Chiao (Expedition 10 Commander and Science Officer). Shargin returned to Earth one week later with Expedition 9 Crew aboard the TMA-4 Soyuz.

TMA-5 Docked With ISS on 15 October at 11:16 PM CDT (4:16 16 October GMT). During their six and a half month stay aboard, the Crew mounted Two EVAs (Extra-Vehicular Activity or spacewalk) from the PIRS docking and airlock compartment wearing Russian Orlan Spacesuits. The EVAs took place on 26 January 2005, and 28 March 2005. Both were successful, and accomplished all their goals.

Twenty-two major scientific experiment programs (pdf file 2.49mb) were carried out during Expedition 10. These included studies in Bioastronautics, the Physical Sciences, Space Product Development, and Space Flight.

There were several nagging problems with the Elektron oxygen generating system, and the Vozdukh CO2 scrubbing equipment. These problems persisted until STS-114 / Discovery visited ISSy in July/August 2005, bringing up parts and supplies needed to finally stem the failures. Just a few days before Expedition 10 returned to Earth, another of the Control Moment Gyros failed. These are used for keeping station attitude under control. This too was repaired once and for all during the visit of STS-114.

The arrival of the Expedition 11 Crew on 16 April 2005, with Italian Astronaut Roberto Vittori, signalled the final days of Expedition 10. Sharipov, Chiao, and Vittori undocked their TMA-5 Soyuz from ISSy on 24 April 2005. They initiated their deorbit burn, and executed re-entry. They made a safe landing near Arkalyk in Kazakhstan later that same evening. Over all, Expedition 10 was a happy and successful mission.

On the chilly morning of 13 October 2004, the flight of Soyuz TMA-5 began with a rocket blast from Baykonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The liftoff and ascent to orbit were flawless, and the crew began a two day race to catch up with ISS. The morning of Saturday 16 October 2004, saw the Soyuz make a perfect docking with ISSy, in spite of the failure of the KURS automatic system. Soyuz Commander and Pilot Salizhan Sharipov was obliged to take his ship the rest of the way on manual control. (Some explanation about how the Kurs automated docking system works is available HERE. PDF File 92kb) A couple hours later, Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka, and crewmate Mike Fincke, opened the last hatch between the two spacecraft, and welcomed the Expedition 10 crew aboard. Along for a ten day visit was Yuri Shargin, of the Russian Space Force. Cosmonaut Shargin flew the third seat of Soyuz along with the new ISSy crew, Commander Leroy Chiao, and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov. A fine welcoming ceremony was had by all.

During the approach to ISSy, TMA-5 was seen to have company. There were four incidents during the hour previous to final docking. This page is concerned with the first incident involving what I call "The Strange Phenomenon". The other three had to do with anomalous objects in space. The pages dealing with the First, Second, and Third objects are also available on this site. The actual Docking is shown HERE.

The time was local midnight, over the coast of Argentina, and within the so-called SAA, or South Atlantic Anomaly. This is a portion of the Earth's magnetic field which does not behave as the rest of the global field.

For several minutes, an outside camera aboard ISSy carried a view of Soyuz at a range of 3000 meters. At this distance, Soyuz was little more than a dot in the blackness. BUT...filling the view during the time they orbited over the SAA, were numerous white dots, and colored flashes. The colors seen were mostly red and blue, with the odd green. There were also white flashes remeniscent of comets.

Mr. Martyn Stubbs of Canada did a study on this phenomena several years back. He dubbed it "The Second Phenomena". I've observed it numerous times myself over the years, but this case is just about the very best recording I've EVER seen. Below is a still frame which shows us where ISSy and TMA-5 were during this event.

ISSy, and Soyuz (circled in red) off the coast of Argentina, and inside the SAA outlined in white. Frame 1 is from just before the camera was activated, and Frame 2 just after the feed was cut by the INCO.

As the pair of craft skirt the eastern coast of South America, one can see that when the "live" feed was cut, they still had some distance to go inside of the SAA.

Soyuz is circled in yellow to identify it. The camera was moved to bring Soyuz back toward center screen during the video segment broadcast on NASA Select TV that night.

Now we'll have a look at...

Isn't this amazing?? Almost hypnotic, isn't it?

The colors, the fleeting white dots, or orbs, coming into view and vanishing in an instant. Could these flashes have something to do with the South Atlantic Anomaly?

Once the two spacecraft were clear of this area, the strange lights and flashes ceased. Something to consider. One thing we can be sure of is that these objects are NOT celestial. This being a color camera aboard ISSy, it is not sensitive enough to register stars or planets. With all of this jumping about, we can also safely rule out the Moon.

The phenomenon appears to be something natural. What makes it so strangely mysterious is that NASA doesn't acknowledge this phenomenon, and seems to take measures to cover it up. If it is just something related to the Earth itself, WHY try to hide it? Go ask NASA...that is if they will bother to answer you.

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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