[Braak]

I hate to ask, but is it possible that the computer had a problem?

[alancarp]

I hate to ask, but is it possible that the computer had a problem?

Probably not. If there was a burn-through event on the left side (that's my working assumption), then there would have been increasingly damaging drag on the left side of the orbiter. The computers would undoubtedly have detected and compensated for this to a point. Once the left wing became unusable, the computers would have had nothing left to work with -- overcompensation or not, the corrections probably kept the crew alive for a few seconds more, FWIW.

P.S. - whatever the state of safety in NASA, this computer software is THE MOST thoroughly protected, managed, and tested computer programs on earth. Simulations like this have undoubtedly been run hundreds or thousands of times. While the computers could have failed, the FCS software most likely did not.

[Karsus]

Very unlikely. The software that runs the flight control portion of the shuttle is some of the most well written and tested software on the planet. I have several software dev mags that cover the org that rights this software. They are the best in the world when it comes to this sort of thing.