[Dog]

If the tiles over the bay that holds the landing gear came off .....this could have caused the bay to overheat and the tires exploded.

[Peach]

The president has spoken to the head of NASA, Tom Ridge and his national security team. Flag is at half staff at the White House. The President will speak to the nation but a time is not known, per NBC news right now.

[rintense]

Ah... ok, this makes sense. But could an exploding tire cause severe damage to the shuttle? Aren't tiles coming off an acceptable part of the flight?