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Summary

DescriptionTether1.gif	English: GIF from video footage of NASA's STS-75 Shuttle Mission. The mission number is: TSS-1R; USMP-3. What you are seeing is the Tethered Satellite System (TSS-1R) with Columbia's Infra Red camera pointed at the satellite. The shuttle is approximately 70-80 nautical miles away from the satellite. The tether of the satellite is approximately 12.8 miles (20.6 kilometers) when fully extended (which it is in the GIF) with the satellite at the top of the rod in the image. The object behind the tether, the circle object, is estimated at 2 to 5 nautical miles in diameter when factoring in the tethers length and distance the shuttle is away from it. The tether appears bright because it is giving off UV rays. The camera used is filming in Infra Red because of that. Why From NASA? The YouTube video clearly states the Mission STS-75. Also later in the video you hear communication between the astronauts and Mission Control who clearly acknowledge to the astronauts and vice versa, that they are "Houston" and you hear them taking about the objects. They acknowledge several times the footage is from Space Shuttle Columbia.
Source	Youtube. Contains footage from still images at source below. Zoomed out still images of the GIF. (NASA).
Author	NASA

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