By now I'm sure we've all heard about STS-107 / Columbia and the tragic fate suffered by her and her Brave Last Crew on 1 February 2003. We'll touch only briefly on that painful chapter in the history of space exporation here. Suffice it to say, that until that last terrible moment, the flight of STS-107 was all routine for the Astronauts aboard. They did their jobs, carried out the various planned experiments, and enjoyed their time on orbit.

It took me nearly two years to work up the courage to comb through my 38 six hour VHS tapes of the STS-107 flight. Until September 2004, the prospect of watching all those smiling Astronauts, and knowing they were gone, was just too much heartache to bear. It also seemed to me that some might think it rather morbid (and disrespectful to those lost) to expose the anomalies and inconsistencies which appeared on those tapes. But I feel now that Shuttle flight STS-114 has been successful, it's safe to say we have "moved on". ...........I sincerely hope you'll agree.

*****

Space Shuttle Columbia lifted off from Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, in Florida at 9:39 AM CST (15:39 GMT) on 16 January 2003. At the time, no one knew it was to be her tragic last flight. Shortly after liftoff, a chunk of insulation broke free of the External Tank and fatally impacted the leading edge of the left wing.

The Crew of STS-107 conducted in excess of 80 different scientific experiments during their mission. These included Earth and space science, advanced technology development, and (ironically!) astronaut health and safety. Most of the experiments were located in the SPACEHAB Research Double Module (RDM), in Columbia's cargo bay. This was the only flight for the RDM.

To allow for research to be carried out on a 24 hour a day basis, the crew were separated into two teams; Red Team and Blue Team.

Columbia broke up on re-entry over Texas 16 minutes before her scheduled landing at the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility on 1 February 2003. Total flight duration: 15 days 22 hours 20 minutes. All aboard lost their lives. There were no more Shuttle flight for the next 30 months to allow NASA the time necessary to evaluate the accident, and implement procedures to prevent a repetition of the disaster.

M = Shuttle Pilot Willie McCool Aboard Columbia

G = Capcom Linda Godwin in Houston

C = The NASA Commentator who remarks on events as they unfold

All Orange italics mine for emphasis, CAPITALS reflect the voiced emphasis of the respective speaker. Hesitations and grammatical errors are left in as originally spoken. JC.

M: Houston, Columbia...

G: Go ahead, Willie...

M: A real odd question to ask Linda, but it would, would it be possible to see Space Station from my given attitude? We see a bright, uh, object that seems to be moving WITH us... This is, this is NOT a long distance satellite Linda.

G: OK Willie, uh, we'll double check that, and get back to you...

PAUSE...

G: OK Wille, uh, we just had that ground track added... up here to our screen and, uh, station's very close to you guys right now, tracking right along with you.. as you go toward sundown, so that could be it.

C: Willie McCool, uh, pilot of Endeavour is saying he saw a bright object...

G: (garbled) we copy...

C: and asked Shuttle Capcom Linda...

G: One more comment for Willie, and uh, sighting of...potentially sighting the ISS, uh, if that's what it is, it should be, uh, moving north relative to you.

C: This discussion about a possible sighting by, uh, Endeva...by Columbia pilot Willie McCool of the International Space Station... Shuttle Capcom Linda Godwin telling, uh, McCool that, uh, indeed the Station is, uh, also over Australia. Station's at a somewhat higher altitude, uh, than Columbia. Station's at about..two th...240 statute miles ( 384 km - JC ) above the Earth, and it's moving over, uh, central Australia now on a northeasterly heading. Columbia's just moving down the Australian coast, the Australian east coast, about Townsville by now, uh, headed southeast, and its altitude's about 180 statute miles ( 288 km - JC ).

What the heck just happened here? McCool reports that he sees a bright object which seems to be moving WITH Columbia. After a few moments to think things over, Mission Control tells him that MAYBE he saw ISS.

BUT, ISSy was crossing Columbia's orbit at right angles, flying along at 17,500 mph (28,000 km/h). At such a speed and angle, ISSy SHOULD have streaked across the sky for Columbia like a meteor! Does it seem likely to you that an experienced NAVAL AVIATOR couldn't tell the difference between something following him, and something crossing his path at lightning speed? For combat fighter pilots, this difference can literally be life or death.

Furthermore, is it perhaps significant that once Houston took over, the Columbia crew had no more to say about the "object"?

M = Shuttle Pilot Willie McCool Aboard Columbia

G = Capcom Linda Godwin in Houston

C = The NASA Commentator who remarks on events as they unfold

All Orange italics mine for emphasis, CAPITALS reflect the voiced emphasis of the respective speaker. Hesitations and grammatical errors are left in as originally spoken. JC.

G: Columbia, Houston, uh, don't know if you can see it on this pass, but we show...show you're fairly close to, uh, the station again. If you'll look out the overhead window, uh, kind of toward the starboard side, you might get a glimpse.

M: We're looking, thanks for the heads up Linda.

C: Shuttle Capcom Linda Godwin giving Columbia's crewmembers a heads up that they might, uh, be able to see the station. Columbia's in, uh, shadow and darkness, moving down across the... eastern coast of Australia, not far from the Sydney area, while the International Space Station is, uh, on a... northeasterly heading, uuh, off the northwestern coast of Australia.

The station's about 242 statute miles ( 384 km - JC ) in altitude, while Columbia's, uh, altitude is about 182 statute miles ( 288 km - JC ).

One orbit ago, about , uh, 2:50 AM, McCool, uh, radioed down saying he, sthrap, saw what he believed to BE the International Space Station, uh, that was a similar sighting, except the two spacecraft were, um, a bit closer together than they are now. Columbia was just, uh, off the... northeast coast of Australia, while the station..., uh, was, uh, moving over the central part of that island continent.

As in this pass, the station, uh, at its higher altitude, was in sunlight while Columbia was in the Earth's shadow, in darkness.

Both the International Space Station flight control room, and the Shuttle flight control room..., believe that, uh, that was in fact a sighting on the last pass, but we've heard nothing from the Columbia crewmembers about whether they, uh, believe they can see the station this time around.

Did you catch all of that? One can see what 'they' were up to when you compare these lines.

M: Houston, Columbia...

G: Go ahead, Willie...

M: A real odd question to ask Linda, but it would, would it be possible to see Space Station from my given attitude? We see a bright, uh, object that seems to be moving WITH us... This is, this is NOT a long distance satellite Linda.

G: OK Willie, uh, we'll double check that, and get back to you...

Then the NASA Commentator from an hour and a half later, AFTER their superiors have had time to solidify their story...

C: One orbit ago, about , uh, 2:50 AM, McCool, uh, radioed down saying he, sthrap, saw what he believed to BE the International Space Station, uh, that was a similar sighting, except the two spacecraft were, um, a bit closer together than they are now. Columbia was just, uh, off the... northeast coast of Australia, while the station..., uh, was, uh, moving over the central part of that island continent.

Because of the speed and direction of ISSy at the time in question, not to mention distance and Shuttle window orientation, it would seem highly unlikely that what McCool reported was the space station.

At the very first both McCool and the staff at Mission Control seemed a bit surprised and confused. Capcom Linda Godwin even said... "IF that's what it is".... But an hour and a half later, the "ISS Explanation" was chisled in stone. "That's our story and we're sticking to it. No more questions". By the way, the man DID say "sthrap".

Now, let's examine some evidence to strongly suggest that the ISSy explanation doesn't hold water, shall we?

This is the animated tracker display used at Mission Control to keep an eye on where the Shuttle is at any given time. This particular map is from about 20 minutes before McCool's sighting. It is as close as I could find on the original VHS tape to the actual time of the sighting report.

Note that I have added a red to line show the orbital path of Columbia, heading across the very top of Australia and into the night beyond.

This is an enlargement of the upper right corner of the same frame as above with markings to help clarify a few things.

The numbered yellow arrows indicate the direction of view for the various flight deck windows on the Shuttle.

1. Far Starboard Flight Deck window.

2. Starboard corner Flight Deck window.

3. Forward facing Flight Deck windows (2 of these).

4. Port corner Flight Deck window.

5. Far Port Flight Deck window.

6. Not enumerated in the above picture are the two overhead windows which in this case face downward toward Earth.

7. Also not numbered here are the two small aft cabin windows, which face into the payload bay. These windows are very small, and don't afford a large field of view. The green arrow shows the view out the aft cabin windows. Now, the aft cabin is separated from the flight deck, which is McCool's duty station as Pilot. Columbia's belly was toward the sky at the time.

Based on the ISS control room animated map, the green line depicts the orbit of ISSy crossing that of Columbia during the sighting report. The red line shows Columbia's orbital path. The yellow "X" indicates roughly the position of Columbia at that time, as well.

As you can see, from the vantage point of ANY window on Columbia, ISS would have been streaking "Left to Right" across their field of view. There is no believable way it could have been mistaken for "moving WITH them".