[Lady Jag]

Nice job! I believe these show that there is really no way to determine damage from that original photo unless the entire side of the craft was damaged, in which case the whole world probably would have known. There are so many factors in the distance of it, atmosphere, angle, temperature, etc., that could contribute to the distortion of an image.

[Carry_Okie]

I believe these show that there is really no way to determine damage from that original photo unless the entire side of the craft was damaged, in which case the whole world probably would have known. There are so many factors in the distance of it, atmosphere, angle, temperature, etc., that could contribute to the distortion of an image.

Agreed, but then the next question is: What would be the cause of such intense distortion, especially at the nose of the craft?

For such an envelope to bend or obstruct light, there either has to be a debris trail (such as what appears from the tail), perhaps induced by combusting skin due to missing tiles on the nose, or a totally asymmetrical shockwave with its own boundary layer, sufficiently intense to create its own envelope against the normal shockwave off the nose. Such an envelope could IMO only be produced by damage to the Shuttle's skin or perhaps a thruster going full bore against the drag produced by the damage in the aft sections. Is there a lateral thuster up there?

Then there is the apparent cavity at the junction of the wing root and the chine, and the build-up on the leading edge of the wing. What the hell could do that at high Mach speeds except material peeling out of the wing root, folding back and burning off?