Jeff Chandler writes that he was closely following the ISS Space Walk on February 25, 2004, when the astronauts made the following comments. Cosmonaut Alexander ‘Sasha’ Kaleri (Crew Flight Engineer) states, “So, dinosaurs are needed here. You can’t do…can’t do anything without them.” Korelyev – Say it again? Kaleri – I say when the dinosaur is here. Yes! I have them here! (Pause for several seconds) Uh…these are with me now! Korelyev – Yes. Let them be with you. Understood. (Several Minutes Later) Foale – (garbled)…Sasha is attaching the dinosaurs now.

Jeff comments, “What is going on here? What are “Dinosaurs” in the context of this long planned space walk (EVA) from the PIRS airlock module of ISS?” I have done an extensive search of both the NASA, and Russian, web resources concerning the space station, and specifically this EVA. There is no mention of anything resembling this term. The NASA ISS acronyms list turns up nothing, as did a similar search on the Russian side. Historically, the term doesn’t exist. In seven years of listening to Cosmonaut and Astronaut chatter during EVAs from Mir, and ISS, I’ve never ever heard this term before. I have never heard this term used on any Shuttle flight in over 20 years of observation. I never heard the term during the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, or Sky Lab programs for that matter. In well over 40 years of watching and listening to the space programs of the United States and Russia, I’ve NEVER EVER heard the term “Dinosaurs” used in ANY context. When Cosmonaut Kaleri made his remarks on 25 February, my ears pricked up. Several minutes later, ISS Commander Astronaut Michael Foale made a remark which seemed to indicate that “Dinosaurs” were some sort of common part which Cosmonaut Kaleri was installing on the exterior of the station. But what part, and what sort? What makes Commander Foale’s statement that Sasha was installing the “Dinosaurs” fall flat was the fact that the Cosmonaut’s conversation about these “Dinosaurs” with the Russian Mission Control Center in Korelyev indicated complete surprise on his part. The two crewmen of ISS Expedition 8 had been preparing, and training, for this EVA event literally for YEARS. NO aspect of the mission to be performed, no piece of equipment, no part to be installed should come as any surprise.

Yet, in his own words, to Cosmonaut Kaleri these “Dinosaurs” came as a great AND unwelcome, surprise. Why? As stated earlier in this examination, all aspects of the EVA should have been extremely familiar. Yet, Kaleri expresses surprise and dismay that “Dinosaurs” should be present. Mission control advises him to accept them, and Commander Foale seems to feel obligated to make up some cover story. High strangeness indeed, especially when one takes into account that there were a number of mysterious objects flitting about during much of the space walk. In addition, space suit to ground communications were interrupted for extensive periods by a terrible screeching racket. My observation is that this interference with communications between the space walkers and the ground seemed to manifest itself during times when the mystery objects were present. A pair of unidentified objects seen during ISS space walk of 25 Feb. 2004 Another unusual occurrence was that at one point in the middle of all these strange happenings, Houston Mission Control announced that the ISS was “Out of Range” of the space communication network. This announcement made when ISS was flying DIRECTLY above the Hawaiian ground station, part of that worldwide network. Houston also indicated that the ISS was “Out of Range” of the TDRS satellite stationed in geosynchronous orbit high above. Neither of these facilities was actually out of range, being in “line of sight” at

Hawaiian ground station when NASA announced it was “Out of Range” In closing, it appears to me that the unknown, and unaccounted for, objects seen during the live TV coverage of the space walk were probably associated with the communication losses. It appears very possible that when the ISS was “Out of Range” from the usual communication facilities both on the ground in Hawaii, and high above in the form of a satellite, this opportunity was taken to speak with the station crew about what they’d seen whilst keeping the public “In The Dark”. I also strongly suspect that “Dinosaurs” was a code word Sasha Kaleri used in reference to UFOs. Taken in that context, the word actually makes sense. Thanks to Jeff Challender – Director Project P.R.O.V.E. © 2004 Jeff Chandler