[XBob]

very good idea, however, beyond me and my software capabilities.

I have given the links, perhaps you/your equipment can give us an estimate.

I have seen many different shuttle 'speeds' at the point the 'insulation' came off, varying from a few hundred mph to about 1800, and also varying 'mach' speeds, which vary with altitude, so that way, I haven't got a clue, except that at 80 seconds into the mission, SRB separtion is at about 2 minutes, and not very far away, so it is going pretty fast and is pretty high. MECO (main engine cut off) is somewhere around 6-8 minutes.

[bvw]

I have to take that back, somewhat. On another thread Dugway Duke pointed out the obvious, that the wing hit would accelerate the debris, as it was moving faster, and also accelerating. Can't really do a momentum change analysis because you don't know the delta v or even the delta m.

See http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/836736/posts?page=247#247