[isthisnickcool]

There is no remote access to the on-board computers from what I understand. The code on the machines cannot be modified except in specific ways that require hardware and hands-on access to the systems themselves. The code is very tightly controlled with numerous fail-safe techniques. Any modification to the code to instruct for something so radical to occur during re-entry would likely not have been allowed to be added to the code and found almost immediately. So, for example, a command to move control surfaces in a way that would be dangerous would likely setoff red flags.

Hopefully, that the way things worked.

Looks to me like there was some kind of failure that breached the tiles under the left wing. And once the wing was breached the heat cut the metal like a hot knife thru butter. As soon as the vehicle pitched at the loss of the wing that was it. At that speed and given the physical forces involved catastrophic failure occurred instantly.

[Ravenstar]

Right now I would say you live up to your name. And I would say your suppositions are correct or a correct as we can know now and I was at KSC when it happened.

Ravenstar

[PhiKapMom]

Since the likely culprit was the insulation that came off and hit the wing and tiles, how could the insulation just have come off on launch?

[DWPittelli]

I agree with you that this software terrorism idea is very unlikely, especially because the shuttle wasn't, of course, running on the internet. But I was reminded today by talk radio of the software firm in Massachusetts that did a lot of work for the Defense Department and other areas of the government, and was busted for being some sort of Islamist front.

Certainly, if there was a dangerous code switch, we (or at least, the authorities) will find it. But it's not impossible. Especially as, at 200,000 feet (and 12,000 MPH) the shuttle needs constant attitude control by computer; even a bug that just crashed a piece of software for a few seconds could cause the shuttle to break up. Complex software can be impossible to test fully except in a real use situation, and maybe a saboteur could put some loop in a program that would remain hidden until its one-time usefulness.