[Illbay]

Do you think it was terrorism then?

If so, how, in your theory?

FWIW, I know NOTHING about any of it, but wonder if, despite the security, there was not sabotage involved long before the shuttle lifted off.

The probability is remote, but given the Israeli on board I can't get it out of my mind.

[Willie Green]

Do you think it was terrorism then?

Highly doubtful. I think the explanations offered by NASA so far are reasonable: that security prior to launch was adequate to prevent any onboard sabotage, and that at the time of the accident, the shuttle was too high and traveling too fast to have been attacked from an external source.

If so, how, in your theory?

I have no personal "theory".
While I am just as interested in learning of the cause as is everybody else, I'm also resigned to the fact that a thorough investigation and analysis is going to take quite some time. I see no reason to engage in speculation or jump to premature conclusions.

[First_Salute]

All the information currently available points to deterioration of the Shuttle vehicle integrity in the left wing, probably occurring mostly, at first, ahead of, or nearby, the left main landing gear wheel well.

The Shuttle was in a 57 degree left bank (as part of its entry flight attitude procedures known as the Roll Schedule, I am given to understand), meaning it was rolled along its center line axis with left wing low, and right wing high.

A staggered series of sensor failures and reading anomalies occurred; sensors intended to measure the temperature of the airframe (not the surface of the airframe) indicated 45 degrees higher on the left than right, sides.

There was indication of a left elevon above normal which caused the Shuttle to roll further to the left.

The Shuttle autopilot attempted a corrective roll to the right.

Thereabouts in the timeline, the temperature and pressure sensors for the left in-board and left out-board main landing gear tires, quit, ie. as they say, "went off-scale low."

That prompted the Shuttle's computers to alert the flight crew. Mission Control asked the crew if they saw the message on their displays. The Shuttle Commander began a response, promptly interrupted by we don't know what ... near the top of the hour.

And we do not yet know what initially caused the deterioration of the left wing.

[Wondervixen]

Terrorism is a real possibility in one aspect...If a terrorist group had a computer hacker capable of passing the codes of the NASA flight computers so to change any one of hundreds of re-entry factors, it could have been done from the outside.

[Concerned]

ILLBAY WROTE: "FWIW, I know NOTHING about any of it, but wonder if, despite the security, there was not sabotage involved long before the shuttle lifted off."

I thought the same thing as soon as I heard there was an Israeli on board.

However, because of the TV demonstration of the EXTREME FRAGILE and BRITTLE nature of the black heat-shield coating on the styrofoam and the object which apparently hit the left wing's black heat-shield coating, I now lean more toward the heat-shield damage theory. With styrofoam under the heat-shield coating, there is NOTHING to really support the coating if it is even lightly hit---it gets punctured!

[GreyWolf]

Do you think it was terrorism then? If so, how, in your theory?

I don't have my tinfoil hat with me but I think they were entirely too quick to rule out terrorism/sabotage as the possible cause. They focused entirely on the shoulder fired missle thing and completely ignored the possibility of sabotaged parts. The shuttle is actually literally hundreds of separate components (many not built domestically) many of which are mission specific and replaced or installed long before flighttime.

It would not have been inconceivable that plastik explosives could have been sealed into one of these "black boxes" and not be examined before the unit was installed. I doubt seriously if they open up every box and check for explosive material. I don't care how tight security is around the launch site, if you are carrying the bomb with you, you are doomed. Any number of triggering devices could have been employed, pressure, heat, RF energy. The re-entry is very critical and a very small charge could upset the balance and start the chain reaction to disaster. The shuttle is flown by the computer which relies heavily on input from hundreds of sensors, many of them very tiny and fragile. Even though there is redundancy galore, loss of critical sensors could throw things out of kilter.

The other possibility is a software bomb (software is also developed in many places) triggered to disrupt computers at a vulnerable period in the flight i.e re-entry or takeoff. Like all viruses, it could sit dormant until the need to run the re-entry code and then rear its ugly head and do its terrible deed.

I am not saying that the event WAS terrorism. All I am doing is pointing out the possibilities and I am sure they could not have begun to check all this out in the time since the mishap. If anyone wants to shoot holes in this logic, I would like to hear from you.