[Kewlhand`tek]

some idiot on cspan already said BUsh did it

[applemac_g4]

After having the government prematurely declare that there were no terrorist links for the DC area sniper and the LA Airport shooter, I'm beginning to take a tinfoil hat view of such pronouncements.

That having been said, hopefully security at the Cape is good enough to prevent such things.

[SunStar]

This was the shuttle carrying the first Israeli astronaut... one of the men who flew in the bombing raid over Iraq in the 1980's...

[Chi-townChief]

I hate to bring this up but we know at that speed and altitude, a conventional attack is impossible - is it possible that someone could have hacked NASA's flight control computer?

[Dog Gone]

What about the astronauts on the Space Station? We can't leave them there for 10 years while we try to figure out what happened.

[Mr. Silverback]

Bottom line: Anybody wanted to hit this thing at 207,000 feet, they'd have to have technology good enough to be in our missile defense system.

[Fitzcarraldo]

Appears that the shuttle suffered exterior damage on launch that was amplified on re-entry.

[ez]

WH says no sign of terrorism. This time I agree with them (as opposed to AA Flight 587). The only possibility of terrorism is that the debris which flew off the shuttle at launch was intentionally loosened.

[Centurion2000]

The news stations should have cameras running in the Arab world .... you know they will be cheering.

[Experiment 6-2-6]

While I don't suspect anything connected with terrorism, it was an event like this that brought about the Spanish American War.

(USS MAINE BLOWS UP IN HAVANA HARBOR)

[Fitzcarraldo]

I'm speculating, but if this was a terrorist act
its concievable that one or more tiles could have
been impregnated with explosive material that would
be ignited by the heat of reentry. All the explosive
would have to do is dislodge the tile, just a few grams
would be needed.

[BossyRoofer]

God bless there brave souls! I wonder if the new Quark Gluon sattleite technologys have any thing to do with this tragedy?

[Fitzcarraldo]

Did this shuttle go to the station? If not were any spacewalks performed from it. Seems like the opportunities for close inspection of the exterior in orbit were not available in this mission.

[ml/nj]

Any indication what the mood is like in Jenin today?

ML/NJ

[WhirlwindAttack]

No way this was a shoot down, not possible at that altitude and speed.
An onboard explosion or catastrophic failure would shread it like we observed.

Who are the remaining crew on the ISS and where are they from? Anybody?

[Lexington Green]

An American spacecraft carrying an Israeli astronaut crashes and burns in Palestine, Texas............ Is this a sign, Luke? Bet the muslims are dancing in their streets.

[4Liberty]

They should line all NASA ground workers up, like the maids, butlers and nannies in a murder mystery - and see if anyone is missing, FIRST. If anyone is - could have been a bomb obviously. Airport & NASA security is not 100%, - 1000's of employees work on the shuttles...
The dems better HOPE OBL or his ilk don't claim credit by the end of day. They'll never see election again, if they do.
An Israeli and an Indian were also on board. Terror could have come from Pakistan.

[ConservativeConvert]

The same week as the Challenger explosion in 1986.
Days after the Sate of the Union Address.
Same week as Hans Blix report.
First Israeli astrronaut in space (who took part in the Osirak reactor strikes against Iraq in 1981).
Falls on Palestine, Texas.

Too many coincidences?....

[Timm]

If there were lost tiles, this fact would be hard to detect retrospectively. Perhaps the debris that sits on the ground could help determine whether there was a bomb of some kind on board.

Assuming that lost tiles were the cause of the re-entry explosion, it would be hard to figure out how, exactly, the tiles were lost.

A few of the tiles have fallen off on prior flights, so the loss of several, I'm guessing, would have been required to cause the catastrophe.

We won't know very much for some time. Perhaps they'll never be able to piece together the accident.

NASA has said that there might be "toxic materials" on some of the debris. Unlikely. Maybe the fuel tanks would have survived intact long enough to leave some fuel on pieces on the ground, but almost certainly not. NASA has issued this warning, I assume, to scare people away from taking debris that might be useful as evidence.

[logic101.net]

I can't see how this could be terror related. With the height and speed when it blew up; I don't think the sand monkeys have anything that could have done so. In fact, I suspect the only thing available that could do so from the ground would be our developing program against missles.

Those who claim Bush did it are just morons (ie. Deomcrats).

MARK A SITY