[analyst2]

There are three credible theories have been discussed that are not mentioned:

1) Speculation that a simple hardened object (such as a small metal knife) could have been inserted in the ET insulation foam. This would cause deeper damage to the tiles than would normally be predicted. Investigation is ongoing as to why one camera on the launch pad was turned off and the other was out of focus, preventing detailed analysis of ET insulation foam impact on the TPS.

2) There were reports written by NASA saying that extremely low level employees have access to putting the tiles on the space shuttle and one employee was caught spitting in the glue bucket and was fired. Mentioned on page 69 in the following paper: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/fischbeckshuttle.pdf Perhaps a tile was compromised.

3) An early theory centers around comments by Jeffrey Kluger: "There are three possible scenarios that explain this event. The first, which I believe is the likeliest explanation, would be an aerodynamic structural breakup of the shuttle caused by it rolling at the wrong angle..." http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,418462,00.html The roll and attitude are transmitted from the ground to the shuttle, at the same time these transmission were being uplinked, a major cyber attack was tying up routers and occupying a great deal of attention. The theory goes that this was a diversion for a hack on NASA computers to program an invalid angle for the first S curve on the left wing.

[B-Chan]

If this were terrorism, one suspects that terrorists would be claiming responsibility for the act. To date, I see no such claim.

[Spiff]

The roll and attitude are transmitted from the ground to the shuttle, at the same time these transmission were being uplinked, a major cyber attack was tying up routers and occupying a great deal of attention. The theory goes that this was a diversion for a hack on NASA computers to program an invalid angle for the first S curve on the left wing.

And which "major cyber attack" was that? Do you really think that NASA guidance/shuttle comms computers are connected to any network that is remotely close to the Internet?

[isthisnickcool]

Or,

The flying monkeys from the wizard of OZ had on their invisability suits and peed on the external fuel tank. Which resulted in some very thick flying monkey pee/ice that sloughed off the tank and hit the leading edge of the left wing and caused enough damage to make the wing fail during re-entry.

[Cold Heat]

None are valid IMHO.

BTW, the do not use glue on the tiles, they use high temp RTV silicone. Wetting the silicone after application is a old trick to get it to tack up quicker so you do not need to hold it for as long or wait for drying time.

NASA was concerned that the joint might not be as good. I concur with that, but there is no proof.

There is nothing reported that indicates the camera foulup was anything more than a mistake by ground crew. They yanked a wire and it accidently fell out.

Sesors and the program data indicate the shuttle was perfoming exactly as programmed until loss of signal. Data indicates a cascading failure in the left wing and landing gear bay.

Tinfoil won't expain this. The investigation will.

[537 Votes]

Could one thing please happen in the world without there being a conspiracy behind it?

[The Great Satan]

If this was "terrorism," the most likely scenario would be an Iraqi agent at a NASA contractor dropping the proverbial "spanner in the works." I see no evidence in favor of that hypothesis yet, but none to discount it, either. It should be on the table. When the shuttle went up, there were plenty of stories about the "heightened security concerns" because of the presence on board of the first Israeli astronaut, a hero of the raid on Saddam's Osirak nuclear reactor. As soon as the shuttle blew up, everybody conveniently forgot that they were previously worried that somebody would blow it up. I wonder why?

[dalebert]

Do you really think the government would tell you.

[TLBSHOW]

If we listen to the SFgate paper its an act of God!

[Arkinsaw]

It was struck by a very large ball of tinfoil travelling at high speed. This tinfoil was inserted into the proper orbit by Al-Qaeda when they got a stowaway on that Chinese space capsule test.

[steveo]

[Libertarianize the GOP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[wysiwyg]

[verity]

Tin Foil and Duct Tape alert!

[snopercod]

Sorry, but you explanations 1, 2, & 3 just don't hold water.

Small knife in the ET TPS??? Please explain how the terrorist would get himself 215' in the air while on constant video surveillance to perform this terrorist act on the launch pad.

Tile techs. Sure the ones in Palmdale were a bunch of potheads, but the ones at KSC are not. Different culture.

Re-entering at the wrong angle??? Sure, all those people in the MOCR and the Columbia CDR and PLt just happened to be on break during re-entry, and nobody noticed...

Get a life...

[The Lake City Gar]

Shuttle Disaster, Could this have been an act of terrorism?

No.

[Cultural Jihad]

"As I hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my mind – every part of this capsule was supplied by the lowest bidder." John Glen, Astronaut.

[LibertyGirl77]

The reason people spit in the glue (or on the tiles) is because it takes a REALLY long time to apply them correctly. Spit seems to help the bond set faster, but the end result is weaker. Spitting in the glue would be careless, sloppy, and lazy, but probably not malicious.