Something Strange Stalks the Space Station

July 07, 2009

Over at SpaceWeather.com, reports have been coming in of observers seeing a strange object following the International Space Station (ISS) as it passes overhead. What could it be? It's certainly a smaller object than the space station, and we know it's not the shuttle (we have a few more days until the launch of the delayed Endeavour). Perhaps it's a UFO? Well, for casual observers, this is certainly an "unidentified" flying object, but one ace astrophotographer managed to capture the the object through his lens, revealing its true identity...

No, it's not a UFO, because we now know what it is with the help of Ralf Vandebergh, from Wittem (the Netherlands):

The Progress 33 which undocked June 30 is set to rendezvous again with the station on July 12 to test new docking systems for the arrival of the mini-research module 2 before it will deorbit. This image shows the Progress on July 5. when it flew almost exactly 1 minute behind the ISS. It was approximately at its largest distance from the station before it will closing in for the rendezvous. It is also my best Progress image so far, as it shows nicely its shape with modules and solar panel. --Ralf Vandebergh

Be sure to browse through some of the other imagery captured by Ralf on his website -- it is truly amazing how much detail he picks out from our orbiting outpost, from the solar arrays to robotic arm, he can resolve them all!