Since 1 November 2000, the International Space Station has been manned continuously. Expedition 11 (April to October 2005) consists of (Commander and Soyuz Pilot) Sergei Krikalev, and (Science Officer and Flight Engineer) John Phillips. In the third seat aboard Soyuz was ESA Astronaut, Italian born Roberto Vittori. He spent a week aboard ISS conducting a series of experiement. Soyuz TMA-6 lifted off atop a Starsem booster from Baykonur Cosmodrome on 14 April 2005 at 7:46 PM CDT (00:46 15 April GMT). Orbit was achieved some eitght minutes later.

TMA-6 docked to the station at 9:19 PM CDT on 16 April 2005 (02:19 17 April GMT), prepared for a six month stay. The three men were greeted by Leroy Chiao, and Salizan Sharipov of the 10th Expedition Crew, who had occupied the station since the previous October.

Following a week of joint operations, and handover of command, Expedition 10 along with Vittori, undocked Soyuz TMA-5 and returned home on 24 April.

The Expedition 11 crew hosted the first Space Shuttle flight to ISS since the STS-107/Columbia disaster. STS-114 arrived on 28 July 2005, delivering supplies, effecting repairs and making upgrades. Conducting three EVAs, unloading the Raphaello MPLM, and removing trash and uneeded equipment, STS-114 was a welcome change of pace for the 11 crew. Discovery undocked from ISS for her return home on 6 August, leaving Expedition 11 on their own again.

One EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity or spacewalk) was carried out by Expedition 11. This on 18 August 2005, it was mounted from the PIRS docking and airlock compartment in Russian Orlan spacesuits.

A week after the arrival of the Expedition 12 crew aboard ISSy, Expedition 11 undocked and departed ISS in their Soyuz TMA-6 vehicle. They landed safely, along with space tourist Greg Olsen, back in Kazakhstan on 10 October 2005 at 8:09 PM CDT (01:09 11 October GMT). It had been a highly successful six month mission in space.

Soyuz TMA-6 successfully rocketed away from Earth atop a Russian Starsem booster, from Baikonur Cosmodrome at 7:46 PM CDT 14 April 2005 (00:46 15 April GMT). Thus began its chase to rendezvous and dock with the International Space Station. Carrying the new ISS Expedition 11 crew (Station Cmdr. Sergei Krikalev, and Flight Engineer John Phillips), and ESA Astronaut, the Italian Robert Vittori, it spent just over two days making the trip.

Docking with the PIRS airlock and docking comparment took place on 16 April 2005. After a period of ensuring a safe and airtight seal between the spacecraft, the hatches were opened. Cmdr. Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov of Expedtion 10 then greeted the first human faces they'd seen in six months.

During the approach and docking operations on that day, NASA was VERY stingy with the live downlink TV. There was almost none, considering that the coverage lasted approximately 4 1/2 hours. Total live downlink during this period amounted to under 15 minutes. The rest was occupied with audio from the spacecraft (in Russian and translated to English ) and commentary from the NASA spokesperson. Visually we saw ,almost exclusively, the monotonous animated tracker at Mission Control Center in Houston, as well as the flight control room, along with a sprinkling of views at the Russian ISS Mission Control in Korolev (outside Moscow) known as TsUP. This was a big difference from the flight of Soyuz TMA-5 in October 2004. We had a very generous amount of live TV during those operations.

We did get several minutes of live TV from the black and white TV camera mounted on Soyuz itself. This camera provided us with the view that Soyuz Pilot Sergei Krikalev had, as he maneuvered his craft to final docking. These views are rather cluttered looking, with an engineering overlay on the screen. We could also see an out of focus image of the spinning KURS docking antenna in the upper right corner of our view. (Some explanation about how the Kurs automated docking system works is available HERE. PDF File 92kb)

Now, there was only one observed anomaly from this flight. It somewhat resembles a meteor, but this cannot be the case. Soyuz was approaching ISS from "below", and ISSy was seen against the backdrop of deep space. There being no air, a meteor would not be visible as a streak, like the anomaly we will see. The object does not appear to emerge from behind ISS, so it's a mystery where it went.

We have prepared a visual presentation of events for you to see for yourself. Let's look at it now, shall we?

The object, if that's what it is, also bears a striking resemblence to "streaks" seen in the now famous STS-48 anomaly video.

Once again, we are confronted with an anomalous object seen by a camera in outer space. And also, once again, it remains ignored and unacknowledged by the space agencies involved. It sure appears to this writer that they are hiding something important from their constituencies.

We've examined this event as carefully, and as scientifically as possible with the resources available. We can safely come to several conclusions about its nature. The object in question is not part of ISSY (It moves independently of the station). It is obviously not part of Soyuz either. It is demonstrably not astronomical. Ice and debris are simply not the answer. For these reasons, I must classify this one as an unknown.

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Although these images came from a Russian black and white camera aboard Soyuz, at all times during this incident, the outgoing broadcast through NASA Select TV 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