#tether incident

On the first trial run of an experimental tether, to be used for towing and placing satellites in orbit, there was a disaster. As the 12-mile long tether was pulled behind the space shuttle, it was bombarded by charged particles from the upper atmosphere and cosmic rays from the sun. It was made of a strong material composed of synthetic fibers, but that synthetic material accumulated a critical charge which eventually snapped the tether as it towed a 100 million dollar satellite packed with sensitive technology.  Shuttle bay cameras monitored helplessly as the tether and its multi-million dollar payload drifted away. One camera, with a human operator, zoomed in on the tether, which was glowing brightly. Many objects were floating around in the shot. Some seemed to emit a flash in a regular synchronized pattern, while other large objects, like the one shown above, appeared to pass behind the 12-mile long tether, which would suggest a diameter in excess of three miles -- depending on how far behind the tether the object was.  The object pictured above seemed to pulse brilliantly in a pattern which radiated from the center of the object and moved uniformly to the outer edge. The frames enlarged at the top of the page show the object at different phases of this pulsation pattern.  NASA officials claim that the objects in the tether video footage are ice particles close to the camera passing in front of the distant "overexposed" tether. Researchers have noticed how NASA routinely brings out this explanation for anomalous video footage acquired during shuttle missions of "ice particles" close to cameras which are focused on infinity, an unlikely result of which would be said footage. ---Freewebs