On 8 September 2000 at 7:46 AM CDT (12:46 GMT), Space Shuttle Atlantis was launched into orbit. She lifted off from Launch Complex 39A, at Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Florida, initiating the flight of STS-106. Atlantis spent the next two days catching up with the still unmanned space station. Rendezvous took place on 10 September, with final docking at 12:51 AM CDT (5:51 GMT)

The Mission (Assembly Flight 2A.2a) was the next in an ongoing series of flights to build and supply the International Space Station (ISS), and the Crew flawlessly performed all tasks on the agenda.

STS-106 was the next to last Shuttle flight to an unmanned International Space Station (ISS). A single EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity or spacewalk) carried out by Cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Astronaut Edward Lu. The two spacewalkers made the final cable connectons between the Zarya module (Russian word for 'SUNRISE') and the brand new service module named Zvezda (Russian word for 'STAR'), which was lauched from Baikonur Cosmodrome atop a Proton booster in July 2000. Another essential task which was completed by the STS-106 crew was the activation of the toilet facilities aboard Zvezda.

10,965 lbs. (4974 kg) of supplies and equipment were delivered by Atlantis to ISSy. Most of this contained in the SPACEHAB Logistics Double Module. In addition, the STS-106 crew unloaded an automated Russian cargo ship, called Progress, which docked to the station in July 2000.

The First Expedition Crew launched weeks later, in a Soyuz spacecraft atop a Starsem rocket booster, from Baykonur Cosmodrome, on 30 October 2000.

Undocking occurred at 10:46 PM 17 September (3:36 18 September GMT), with the Shuttle flying alone for the next 29 hours. Atlantis landed safely on Runway 15, Kennedy Space Center, at 3:56 AM EDT (7:56 GMT) 19 September 2000, for a total flight duration of 11 days 19 hours 12 minutes.

In this incident, one of Atlantis' payload bay cameras (Low Light B/W Unit) was trained on the Earth below. The scene was the pre-dawn eastern Great Lakes area, including Ontario Canada, and several US States. The camera was pointed in a westerly direction, and the NASA announcer mentions that we can see the remnants of Hurricane Gordon in the distance. As he is speaking, our camera pans "downward" revealing a formation of four anomalies. Three of these are in a formation shaped like an almost perfect Isosceles Triangle. The four are actually flying along at the exact same speed as the Shuttle, and are therefore in obit with our spacecraft. The objects are traveling between the Shuttle and the surface of Earth. Their apparent "upward" motion is strictly due to the camera being moved by the INCO. In relation to Shuttle Atlantis, they were in a synchronous orbit.

It has been somewhat cynically suggested by debunkers that the objects are only a rare appearance of a US Navy NOSS Triplet satellite. This is patently IMPOSSIBLE! Atlantis was orbiting 240+ miles.( 380+ km ) above Earth at the time, and the NOSS Triplets orbit at some 750 miles ( 1200 km ) altitude. So the triplets orbit more than three times the altitude of ISSy, and the spacecraft which visit her. For this reason alone, the triplets are not the answer. They can NEVER be found BETWEEN the Shuttles, or ISSy, and the surface of the Earth.

This event, although recorded "live" from NASA Select TV in September 2000, has never before been on the internet prior to 2005, because of its subtlety. The objects are so difficult to see that I was unable to create a viable animated GIF depicting them prior to this time. What we have available on this web page are some animated frames, and three animated GIFs from the event. The animations are produced from a short clip of the event which has been zoomed in 200%.

The frames provided for your study demonstrate most painfully how hard it is to see these objects without their motion. The GIFs show the triangle formation with a brighter flashing object to its upper left.

Why don't we now look at the evidence for these anomalies then, OK?

The anomalous objects are marked out for you here. There are three forming a near perfect isosceles triangle, and an odd fouth object which flashes on and off very brightly.

When the unmarked frame is in view, the objects are almost impossible to pick out against the ground clutter. The only way find them is by their motion.

These three animated GIFs are at 200% Zoom. They are somewhat easier to follow this way. Also, it is important to note that the speed of these GIFs is around 5 times normal.

The GIF to the left is in normal colors.

As you can see from the GIFs above, the four objects maintained a very tight formation throughout. Ice and debris cannot do this, as they have random speeds and tumble. Watch the example of the Water Dump for some idea of what I mean. In addition, there is NO source of light to externally illuminate these object. The Sun had not risen yet, even on orbit. So it can be logically deduced that the anomalies are self-luminous.

Next is a whole sky chart for reference. We can see what was visible in the heavens at the exact time of the event.

The last quarter Moon is at its high point in the sky in this chart of the heavens for the time in question. This Moon accounts for the brightness of the clouds seen in the payload bay camera that night.

A second anomaly was also seen during this event. That will be examined separately. Also a curious "Loss of Signal" between Atlantis and ground control was announced shortly after the anomalies. That also will be dealt with separately on another page.

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At all times during this event, the camera was under the control of the INCO 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