"Speaking on condition of anonymity, a U.S. official told NBC’s Miklaszewski that a heat spike appeared on military satellite data around the time shuttle was re-entering. The readings would be examined to see if they correlate to the shuttle’s breakup. The highly sensitive infrared satellite, known as the DSP, originally was developed to detect the heat spike of Soviet intercontinental missile launches. It also has been used to detect the heat signature of oil fires, volcanic eruptions and the explosion of TWA Flight 800 in 1996. "