Daniel Tarr
NASA's Unknowns
by Chris Zimmerman
An in-depth, scientific analysis of NASA's own shuttle mission footage of acclaimed UFOs
- An archive -
2008.
Chris Zimmerman presents » NASA's Unknowns
The purpose of NASA's Unknowns is to analyze NASA's STS shuttle mission footage of acclaimed unknown phenomena. The footage had been downlinked by Martyn Stubbs and has been called the "Smoking Gun" for the evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. David Sereda is on the forefront for making a case that these objects are of extraterrestrial origin, while James Oberg, among others, argue that they are ice particles, or other commonalities. The footage may not seem intriguing at first, but if certain aspects are noticed, then prosaic explanations do not seem acceptable, and thus the footage requires an in-depth analysis to determine what is actually being viewed - this is what has been done on this site. It is essentially impossible with the given information to determine that the objects are extraterrestrial, but it is possible to show that the objects are most likely not debris, satellites, or anything else that is known. This is as far as NASA's Unknowns will and has gone with the given information, and for most of the objects, it should be deduced that they do have peculiar qualities that do not seem descriptive of any known object in orbit.
All of the videos and photos have been edited by myself using AVS Video Editor and Jasc Paint Shop Photo Album 5 respectively, only for aesthetics and to help you identify the important aspects of the footage.
The resulting videos were uploaded to » Dailymotion and » Youtube. Visit them
for all of the videos or to discuss them.
Need to contact me? Send e-mail to Chris@nasas-unknowns.com
STS-75 VIDEO ANALYSIS
NASA STS-75 Appearing Objects
All videos were uploaded by CCZimmerman92 / NASAsUnknowns
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Quick Finder
Object Path Analysis
Ice Molecule Argument
Object Characteristics
Crew Dialogue
STS-75 Negative Image Version
STS-75 Negative Image Version
The notch's radial position on the objects seems to be related to the object's position on the screen; the photo and Dailymotion video below help show this relation. From examining the photos, there are four notch positions: 1 o'clock, 6 o'clock, 7 o'clock and 11 o'clock, where the notches can either be found by themselves, in pairs and in threes; depending on where the object is on the screen, the notches are consistently in the same position.
Refer to the photo below and watch the video to confirm it yourself. This example roughly breaks up the viewing lens into five zones, about 3 equal ones on the upper left side and one zone on each side of the center line. 16 objects have been collaged into one photo to show that there is a relationship between the notches and the object's location on the screen. The lower right quarter of the screen has a glare spot, which makes it difficult to know which notches that area gives, but regardless of this, there is an identifiable relationship.
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STS-75 Notch Zones
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Object Path Analysis
Every photo will be described using an xyz cartesian coordinate system, with x being the axis parallel to the bottom and top of the screen (positive rightward), y being parallel to the sides of the screen (positive upward), and z being perpendicular to the screen. For all of the objects, it is assumed that the objects do not move in the z direction because their sizes do not change significantly.
Object 1
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This photo shows the path of one particular object collaged into one. All of the other objects have been eliminated in order to reduce confusion (the tether and glare spots remain as reference). The photo was adjusted, as with all of the others, using Jasc Paint Shop Photo Album 5, simply for aesthetics and for an easier identification of the location of the object (the color, exposure, vividness and sharpness were tampered with using Jasc's Adjust Wizard). The object moves horizontally across most of the screen, so no effort was made to put in more of these positions before its curved path. The object is moving from left to right.
This object initially has a velocity only in the x-direction. Since the object is moving parallel to the x-axis, it is thus assumed to be moving parallel to the Shuttle and its velocity is therefore parallel but slightly greater in magnitude, assuming that the object is near-field. At the point where the object begins to turn downward in the y-direction, it cannot be assumed that this acceleration is due to gravity because both the Shuttle and the object have been falling at the same rate of g. If the velocities are initially the same in the y direction because the object does not change position in the y direction and the accelerations are both g, then there should not be any apparent y motion of the object.
This sequence is shown on the Dailymotion video below:
STS-75 Object Movement
Object 2
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This motion sequence moves from left to right; there are 10 phases in this collage. It appears to slow down near the top, but it is at this point that the camera zooms in and back out, so the last two phases are approximations, but the path is still quite accurate. The object appears as though it falls at this point. Below is the video.
This object initially has both a positive velocity in the x and y direction. Since the object has an intial y velocity and if the Earth is in the negative y direction, the acceleration is apparantly due to gravity. But, this does not make sense. At the highest point, the object has no velocity in the y direction. If gravity is assumed to be the force, then it cannot be the correct explanation. Gravity is accelerating both the Shuttle and the object at the same rate of g, the only reason why any movement relative to the Shuttle would be seen is if the initial velocities were different, which is the case at first. But since the object, when at its highest point, has a relative zero y velocity, and the Shuttle has the same y velocity at this point since it appears motionless, both objects would have the same acceleration of g at this point acting only in the y direction. Since the accelerations would be the same, there should be no apparent motion, but the object accelerates downward at a faster rate than the Shuttle.
Object 1:
STS-75 Object 1
Object 2:
STS-75 Object 2
Object 3:
STS-75 Object 3
Object 4:
STS-75 Object 4
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Ice Molecule Argument
The Tethered Satellite broke on Sunday, February 25, 1996 at 7:30 p.m. CST. Nearly a week later, on Friday, it was reported that "Columbia's astronauts had a clear view of the Tethered Satellite as the two spacecraft passed within about 46 nautical miles overnight. The closest approach occurred at 11:17 central time last night (approximately 7/08:59 MET), and was captured on videotape as the satellite and its 12-mile tether came into view." During the STS-75 footage, the crew mentioned that "Controllers for the Satellite did have communications with it during the close pass between Columbia and the Satellite." Therefore, because the close-encounter on Thursday had been videotaped and there had been a "close pass" during the STS-75 footage, then the STS-75 footage was from four days after (Thursday) the Tethered Satellite had separated. If the STS-75 footage was from soon after the Tethered Satellite had separated, then there would not have been a close pass. The situation makes sense because on Thursday at 5 p.m., it was reported in the mission highlights that "currently, the orbiter trails TSS [Tethered Satellite System] by a distance of about 1900 nautical miles, with Columbia closing on the satellite at the rate of 340 nautical miles with each revolution of the Earth. Whether or not the crew will be able to see the satellite during the fly-by will depend on lighting conditions and orbiter position." Therefore, the situation was that Columbia was trailing the Satellite, but was decreasing the distance between the two by 340 nautical miles per orbit, and thus would have gotten closer, until it reached 46 miles away in this case, and then would have passed the Satellite and thus the distance would have increased from thereafter. During the STS-75 footage, the distance between the two had been increasing, beginning with 77 nautical miles and ending with 100, and this was after there had been a close pass between the two. The two situations are compatible and thus the video had been filmed four days after the Tethered Satellite had separated from Columbia.
This is important because it means that the crew would have gone back to normal activitites and would have carried out routine, orbiter water dumps. This makes it possible and reasonable for the objects to have been ice particles.
At 6 a.m. on Sunday the mission highlights stated that "another investigation of Columbia's surroundings made use of the orbiter's Flash Evaporator System (FES). To accomplish this experiment, the crew participated in activating and deactivating the orbiter's water release systems and manually operating the Shuttle's attitude control system jets. This provided a controlled means of studying the distribution of neutral and charged particles in the vicinity of the payload bay during Shuttle water dumps.
Meanwhile, science teams at the Marshall Space Flight Center used the SETS experiment's instruments to give measurements which related to the ionized gas as it interacted with the water cloud. The water molecules in this cloud exchanged electrical charges with the surrounding ionized oxygen and formed a ring shape which could be easily distinguished from the ionized gas background around Columbia."
Since the objects in the STS-75 footage were somewhat of a ring shape, it must be argued that they were water (ice) molecules.
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Object Characteristics
Regarding the objects, there are four characteristics to look at: their motion, their passing behind the tethered satellite, the peculiar manner in which many appear out of nowhere, and their appearance.
Every object follows one rule, and that is that they only accelerate downward. The objects, if they turn or speed up, only do so in the downward direction. This does not prove but strongly suggests that if an external force is acting on the objects, it acts consistently in this downward direction. This suggests that the Earth's gravity would be responsible for the motion, rather than any other external force such as electromagnetic forces, which would be more prone to have random effects.
The strongest field lines of gravity point toward the center of the Earth (neglecting the Moon other masses which would have relatively small strengths), but, the field lines for a magnetic field would be of somewhat concentric ellipses, which would not be consistent in exerting the same direction of force on these presumably charged ice molecules. If the Earth's magnetic field were causing their accelerations, then it is extremely unlikely that they would all accelerate in the same downward direction. The direction of the force and thus the accelerations of the objects would depend on the charge of the molecules and the direction of their velocity. Using a right hand rule, if a positive molecule were travelling in the positive x direction, and since all the objects accelerate downward, then the magnetic field would point in the positive z direction (out of the page). Assuming that the magnetic field points in this positive z direction for all space in this view, then this would mean that the molecules would have to be negatively charged if they were travelling in the negative x direction for there to be an acceleration in the negative y direction. The point is that all of these conditions would have to be perfect for every object to accelerate in the negative y direction if electromagnetic forces are to be the cause. And even if and since the magnetic field lines would not point in the same direction, it is still unreasonable to assume that electromagetic forces could be the cause. However, if gravity were the cause of this curved motion, its effects should not be noticeable because the objects themselves have nearly the same velocity as the Shuttle's, yet many accelerate sharply and suddenly.
A motion map was made for one particular object and is available in more detail diretly below (made by placing a transparent sheet of paper over a television screen and marking a dot in the center of the object every tenth of a second). This object moved nearly perfectly horizontal across most of the screen, then made a 90 degree, sharp but smooth turn at the end of its motion. In order to get a general idea of how the velocity of the object had changed over the course of its motion, I divided its entire motion into 1 second intervals and then measured each interval to get an average velocity over that time. The results were surprisingly easy to read and very conclusive (see them below). For the first 7 seconds of its motion, the object had been consistently decelerating, beginning with a 6.00 cm measurment and ending with 3.30 cm; changes in screen velocity during this time ranged from (- 0.70 cm/s) to (- 0.20 cm/s). Then, during the next 6 seconds, the velocity was constant, with measurements ranging from 2.85 cm to 2.55 cm. All of this motion was horizontal and the object did not change size (consistent 2.0 cm diameter for a 13.5 cm wide screen). The object then decelerated after this motion and began its 90 degree turn. Gravity acts constantly and would not decelerate an object then keep its motion constant, then decelerate it again, and cause it to make a 90 degree turn. Gravity does not accelerate objects in this manner. Gravity does not explain these objects' motion, but because of the predictable and quite consistent directions of their accelerations, it reigns as the only plausible prosaic explanation.
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Each numbered segment represents 1 second; the diagram above is not perfectly proportional. The measured values for each are as follows below:
Deceleration Portion (Segments 1 to 7)
1) 6.00 cm 2) 5.70 cm 3) 5.00 cm 4) 4.50 cm 5) 3.95 cm 6) 3.50 cm 7) 3.30 cm
Constant Velocity Portion (Segments 8 to 13)
8) 2.85 cm 9) 2.85 cm 10) 2.65 cm 11) 2.80 cm 12) 2.65 cm 13) 2.55 cm
Start of Turn Portion (Segments 14 to 21)
14) 1.90 cm
15) x - 2.20 cm , y - 0.10 cm [magnitude - 2.20 cm] 16) x - 2.10 cm , y - 0.30 cm [magnitude - 2.12 cm]
17) x - 1.75 cm , y - 0.55 cm [magnitude - 1.83 cm] 18) x - 1.90 cm , y - 0.70 cm [magnitude - 2.02 cm]
19) x - 1.10 cm , y - 1.05 cm [magnitude - 1.52 cm] 20) x - 1.30 cm , y - 1.30 cm [magnitude - 1.84 cm]
21) x - 1.00 cm , y - 1.45 cm [magnitude - 1.76 cm]
The objects appear out of nowhere throughout the sequence and at least one disappears. It really does not matter if there was sunlight or moonlight to account for this appearance since the objects are not illuminating because they had moved into light. The objects appear with their centers first, where from there, the light moves outward toward their edge, similar to a balloon expanding as it is blown up. Mathematically, their radius, r, equals 0 at t0, then smoothly increases to r as t increases. Below is a video. If an object were to move into light of any kind, they would not appear with their centers first.
Nature of STS-80 and STS-75 Objects Appearing out of Nowhere
There are at least three types of entry for these objects in this manner: they appear out of nowhere and move as though they had been moving the entire time, appear and remain motionless with respect to Shuttle, or appear and remain motionless for some time and then begin to accelerate (usually they appear to fall). Below is a video that shows some of the appearances (there are a lot more than what is shown below).
STS-80 Formation Breakdown Photo Collage
Regarding their appearance, they are disk-shaped and illuminated with one or several notches, have a hole in their center, and some pulsate. Their notch's position is related to the object's location on the field of view and are only visible when the camera is zoomed in; this relation can be seen at the top of the page. The notches are an effect of the camera.
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Crew Dialogue
Got a call reporting that uh the crew can see the tether, can see the satellite, it’s beautiful. This view uh showing uh ---- the satellite. Again uh just moving into sunrise. 81 nautical miles now from Columbia.
Guys getting the image?
Franklin uh we see a long line, couple of star-like things and a lot of things swimming in the foreground, can you describe what you’re seeing?
Franklin R. Chang-Diaz (crew, Payload Commander) - Well the long line is uh is a tether um and uh there’s a little bit of debris that uh kinda flies with us and uh it’s illuminated by the sun at such low angles so there’s a lot of stray light and it’s getting washed out uh quickly but uh Claude is trying to do a uh quick uh good job adjusting the cameras.
Copy that.
You know that description by the crew, this is the tether, and the satellite, the satellite, with 12, approximately 12 miles of tether attached to it. Columbia and the satellite now just passing over the west coast of uh Northern Africa. The two spacecraft now 90 nautical miles apart. Controllers for the satellite that did have communications with it during the close pass between Columbia and the Satellite.
Columbia, Houston, that’s a much better view uh lot more contrast visible and how wide does that tether appear to be, we, it seems to resemble a much wider strand than we’d expect can you describe which way uh the satellite is visible on that uh strand?
Satellite uh now 100 nautical miles.
Claude Nicollier (crew, Mission Specialist) - Completely am zoomed and uh you see the full extent of the tether. I tried to adjust the focus but I can’t get better than that.
Okay Claude thank you.
Good to zoom in now.
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STS-80 VIDEO ANALYSIS
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STS-80 Overview
These objects were filmed during NASA's STS-80 Shuttle mission. They closely resemble the objects during the STS-75 "tether break" (white discs with a hole in the center) except for the notches, most likely because the notches were due to the camera, not necessarily due the objects themselves (see Notch Analysis under STS-75 Video Analysis). The objects are distant because of their motion over the curvature of the Earth.
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This object entered dimly from the right and, at phase three, illuminated brilliantly. It continued to move leftward at a decreasing rate where, once at the final phase, maintained a parallel velocity equal to that of the Shuttle. The object then transitioned into the next sequence below.
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This is the object from above, a few moments afterward. It held a geostationary position and its movement was from left to right. Below is an altered version of the footage from Dailymotion.
Geo
Object Two
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This object entered into the scene later, but this sequence occurred simultaneously with Object One. It appeared out of nowhere, then descended toward the Earth. Below is an altered, Dailymotion video of the object.
STS-80 Appearing Object
STS-80 Formation
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There are seven objects geometrically surrounding one in the center (roughly a septagon or a circle). Two objects entered as faint yet very noticable discs with a hole in their centers. They entered from the upper right of the screen and descended toward the Earth where, once they reached a certain altitude, they brilliantly illuminated and discontinued their descent. Three appeared out of nowhere near their positions, but one ended up not being a part of the formation. Four were already illuminated as they entered the screen, and these moved over the curvature of the Earth to their positions. Refer to the numbers above for each individual object path analysis below. There is also an altered version of the formation from Dailymotion below that highlights each object's path.
STS-80 Formation Paths
Faint Discs
Faint Disc (2)
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This photo sequence shows the first faint disc entering the formation from right to left. The red line follows the path it takes; there are four white discs on the upper line and three faint discs just above the green disc (greenish bottom one is when it illuminates and discontinues its descent). The object descended toward the Earth, yet at its final phase, it stopped and held its altitude relatively constant, then transcended slightly upward (not in altitude).
Faint Disc (8)
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This photo sequence shows the second faint disc entering the formation from right to left. The red line follows the path it takes; there are three white discs on the upper line and three faint discs just above the bright, white disc (when it illuminates). This object's motion is almost exactly the same as the first faint disc, where it descends toward Earth, then stops its descent at its final phase and illuminates.
Already Illuminated Objects
Illuminated Object (1)
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The red line follows the path of the illuminated object and is on the right; the object moves upward. There are, in total, four discs in this collaged-sequence, two dark ones, one bright, white one and a faint dot at the end. The object moves over the curvature of the Earth.
Illuminated Object (5)
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The red line follows the path of the illuminated object and is on the left; the object moves upward. There are, in total, twelve discs in this collaged-sequence, with a very faint one at the end of the line. The path of this object suggests that it is moving over the curvature of the Earth and thus it cannot be near-field debris.
Illuminated Object (6)
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The red line follows the path of the illuminated object and is on the left; the object moves upward. There are, in total, eleven discs in this collaged-sequence. This object's motion suggests that it is moving over the curvature of the Earth.
Illuminated Object (7)
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The red line follows the path of the illuminated object and is on the left; the object moves leftward. There are, in total, four discs in this collaged-sequence, with a very faint one at the end of the line.
Appearing Objects
Appearing Object (3)
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This object appears out of nowhere and moves from bottom to top into formation near the end of the footage.
Appearing Object (4)
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This object appears out of nowhere and moves from bottom to top into formation near the end as well.
Now that you have seen what to look for, watch the actual video for yourself:
STS-80 Formation Original
Miscellaneous Objects
Miscellaneous Object 1
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This object occurrs simultaneously with the formation. It enters approximately where the red line is and is not luminous at that point, it is a dark body and needs a trained eye to find (it may not be possible to see it on the Dailymotion video below due to quality). It illuminates approximately at the first stage and continues to move leftward (the whole sequence lasts approximately 60 seconds). If it were a meteor, it would have travelled around 1800 to 2400 miles in that time (30 to 40 miles/second). However, the object appears to change direction (away from Earth) yet the camera does not change position and the location of the Earth below does not change at all (refer to Dailymotion video below).
STS-80 Misc
Miscellaneous Object 2
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This object is found during the formation and its movement is from right to left. There are, in total, seven phases, with a very faint one near the top. The object leaves the screen, just follow its trajectory and about at that spot is where it leaves. This object appears to be leaving the Earth.
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MIR SEQUENCE ANALYSIS
Mir Objects
Video Analysis
The first object in the video appeared out of nowhere, moved toward the Earth, and although the camera zoomed in, it drastically changed its direction by more than 90 degrees.
The next object appeared out of nowhere, moved upward and to the left, and just as it appeared as though it would have left the field of view, it did not, and instead, it moved leftward, barely keeping itself visible. After some short moments, it turned downward, essentially making a U-turn from its initial direction of motion.
The last one entered as a bright object, where shortly thereafter, it dimmed greatly for several moments, then illuminated brightly as it had entered. A shadow would not cause an object to illuminate from its center outward. Whenever any of these objects appear out of nowhere or illuminate, their illumination begins from their centers and moves outward
Watch the entire scene on the Dailymotion video below:
Mir Sequence
The Dialogue
Mission Control Houston we are using the payload bay cameras right now to hopefully catch a glimpse of the Russian Space Station, Mir, as it performs an on-orbit burn. Though it will be difficult to pick Mir out from the stars as they pass behind us, the payload bay cameras are positioned such that they’re looking straight back back, straight back behind the orbiter where the Mir is flying at about 850 nautical miles behind us.
No (joy?) from here sorry, hope it was a good one though for our friends.
Thank you sir, we could not see it here either we’ll wait 2 or 3 more minutes till sunrise and then uh at that time give you a go for (k-ustol?)
We’re at a mission lapse time of 7 days 13 hours and 17 minutes, this is Mission Control Houston. The uh Mir Space Station is now visible on the far left hand side of the screen about, about an inch from the bottom of this particular picture. Okay, the Mir Space Station is the small flashing light in the uh center, about an inch from [background talking: camera Charlie on the monitor] the uh left hand side of the screen. It’s slowly…
Got a (handle?) on the camera.
Um. It is slowly moving closer to the left hand side and is uh very, has a very light flashing to it.
We think, on the middle of the screen way to the left hand side. We think you can see a flashing light just a little bit to the left of the center of the screen - very faint.
Yeah we do see something flashing visually but we’re not sure that that might be uh…
This is Mission Control Houston, once again we believe we were just able to spot the uh Mir spacecraft as it flies about 850 nautical miles behind Discovery.
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THE OPTICS
STS-75 Camera
"Using a hand-held camera system with image intensifiers and special filters, the TOP investigation will provide visual data that may allow scientists to answer a variety of questions concerning tether dynamics and optical effects generated by the Tethered Satellite System [TSS-1R or in other words, the STS-75 mission]. In particular, this experiment will examine the high-voltage plasma sheath surrounding the satellite.
In place of the image-intensified conventional photographic experiment package that has flown on nine previous Shuttle missions, a charge-coupled device (CCD) electronic system will be used instead of film. This new system combines the image intensifier [infra-red and visible spectrum] and the charge-coupled device in the same package. The advantage of charge-coupled devices over film is that they allow real-time observation of the image, unlike film, which has to be processed after the mission. The system also provides higher resolution in low-light situations than do conventional video cameras.
The imaging system will operate in four configurations: filtered, interferometric, spectrographic, and filtered with telephoto lens. The basic system consists of a 55-mm F/1.2 or 135-mm F/2.0 lens attached to the charge-coupled device equipment. Various slide-mounted filters, an air-spaced Fabry Perot interferometer, and spectrographic equipment will be attached to the equipment so that the crew can perform various observations.
In one mode of operation, the current developed in the Tethered Satellite System is closed by using electron accelerators to return electrons to the plasma surrounding the orbiter. The interaction between these electron beams and the plasma is not well understood. Scientists expect to gain a better understanding of this process and how it affects both the spacecraft and the plasma by using the charge-coupled device to make visual, spectrographic, and interferometric measurements. Thruster gasses also may play a critical role in Tethered Satellite System operations. By observing optical emissions during the buildup of the system-induced electromotive force (emf) and during gas discharges, scientists can better understand the interaction between a charged spacecraft and the plasma environment and will increase their knowledge of how the current system closes at the poles of the voltage source.
The heart of the TOP instrument is a hand-held low-light video camera with special filters whose primary purpose on TSS is to observe luminescence produced by electron beams and the interaction of the electrically charged satellite with the local charged-particle and neutral atmosphere. The TOP has many advantages over similar photographic recordings made on previous flights because it allows real-time observations of the images seen by the orbiter crew."
CCD Capabilities
From http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/science/comets-colors.cfm, "Digital photography uses a device called a Charge-Coupled Device, or CCD, to record an image. The CCD measures and records how much light strikes its wafer thin surface, and stores the pattern using computer memory. A CCD records light with no regard for its color. As a result it can only record black and white images... The color must be added in at a later time."
From http://wfc3.gsfc.nasa.gov/MARCONI/basic.html, "Quantum efficiency is the number of photoelectrons that are generated in a pixel for every photon of light that hits the surface above it. Quantum efficiency is, in simple terms, a percentage of light you detect with your CCD. Silicon can see wavelengths in the range of 200 nm to 1200 nm. This is 2-3 times the color range of the human eye! The human eye only has a QE of about 10%, but the QE of CCDs can approach 80%. For a perfect device, where every photon generates a photoelectron, the quantum efficiency is 100%. In practice, the quantum efficiency will be less than 100% in all places since there are unavoidable losses. Some of this is the result of the atomic structure of silicon, and some because light must pass through a silicon surface to get into the CCD to generate a photoelectron."
Source: NASA
A range from 200 to 1200 nm means that the CCD camera can see the near ultraviolet spectrum (400 to 200 nm), the visible spectrum (380 to 750 nm), and most of the near infrared (750 to 1400 nm).
Airy Disc
From answers.com, "Due to the wave nature of light, light passing through an aperture is diffracted and forms a pattern of light and dark regions on a screen some distance away from the aperture. The diffraction pattern resulting from a uniformly illuminated circular aperture, has a bright region in the center, known as the Airy disc which together with a series of concentric rings is called the Airy pattern (after George Airy). The diameter of this disc is related to the wavelength of the illuminating light and the size of the circular aperture."
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The objects are not airy discs. They have a dark spot in the center rather than a bright region, are not all the same shape (some are quite circular and others are very elliptical, refer to the samples below), and do not have concentric rings surrounding them. It is also important to note that when the camera is zoomed out during the STS-75 tether break footage, the objects are small blobs of unfocused light, but when the camera zooms in, the objects become more distinct and their shapes arise with definitive lines. If the objects were close and the camera zoomed in, they would be out of focus, yet in this case, the objects are visually more definitive, not blurry blobs as when the camera was zoomed out; some are faint and transparent. Since the objects are unfocused blobs of light when the camera is zoomed out and more definitive when the camera zooms in on the TSS, then it should be deduced that the objects are far away.
Looking at the objects below, the first one is nearly a perfect circle except for the notches, the next three are all imperfect ellipses. They also have very small and dark centers and do not have concentric rings surrounding them.
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STS-75 Objects Pass Behind and in Front
STS-75 Objects Pass Behind and in Front
The objects pass both in front and behind the tether, insinuating that there is no optical illusion where the "brighter phantom" tether overrides the objects' "lesser brightness."
Watch the Dailymotion video above as this object clearly passes in front of the tether, the outline of its shape is visible; yet the next two objects pass behind the tether. Since there are both situations in this video and since the object that passed in front of the tether is as bright as one of the objects that passed behind, then there is not an optical illusion to account for the bright objects, although there is possibly one in affect for the dim ones.
The optical illusion should be due to the brightness variances with the tether and the objects, where the tether would be brighter. There is at least one instance where one of the objects, which is faint and transparent, passes in front of a star, yet the star is still visible. This is either because the star was brighter and thus caused an optical illusion, or was simply caused by the fact that the object itself was quite transparent. This situation, if caused by an optical illusion, is what is argued to be the case with the tether and the objects. If the tether were brighter than the objects and they passed in front as forms of light, then the brightness of the tether would override the objects' light, thus making them appear to go behind. But if the objects were brighter than the tether and if they were to pass in front, then there should not be an optical illusion, and thus they would appear to pass in front. And since both of the objects visually have the same brightness and one goes in front and one goes behind the tether, then there is no optical illusion, at least for the bright objects.
STS-75 Close Objects Pass Behind
The Dailymotion video above reinforces the statements above. Both of these objects pass behind the Italian Tethered Satellite and are brighter than it, contrary to James Oberg's explanation of the tether being brighter than the objects, thus overriding their light and making an illusion of them passing behind.
Debris
Debris
These objects are debris. The first clip shows four objects in question and all four accelerate at the same time after the flash occurs. The flash was caused by the Shuttle's thrusters, and since the Shuttle accelerated in the opposite direction of the camera, the objects appeared to accelerate away from the Shuttle. The next clip shows the somewhat familiar object that has been seen on the STS-80 footage, except that this one obviously passes between the camera and Mir, indicating that the object is small. It also does not change direction, is very faint and flashes in synchronization with Mir - most likely indicating that the reflection from Mir is causing the object to be visible and flashing. The last object is tumbling and passes between Mir and the camera.
Geostationary Objects
NASA Geostationary Object
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Recovered and archived from: Chris Zimmerman » NASA's Unknowns
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