[txradioguy]

Supposedly the have images from some of the spy satellites. I say it on Dridge, but have seen no follow up on it.


IMHO, the debate on whether the insulation could cause that kind of damage needs to factor in this tidbit. At the time the video of the insulation hitting the shuttle was taken, they were already at about Mach 2. The insulation is of a fairly rigid type too if what I've read is correct. If a tornado with winds of only 250 - 400 mph can drive a piece of broom straw through a tree trunk, wouldn't it be safe to say that a piece of rigid foam insulation at mach 2 could do some pretty significant damage?

[jpsb]

Both foam and shuttle were traveling at the same speed and in the same direction. It is delta in speed/direction that counts.

[HardStarboard]

>>>wouldn't it be safe to say that a piece of rigid foam insulation at mach 2 could do some pretty significant damage?<<<

But the piece of foam wasn't at Mach 2 relative to the Columbia wing. If you think about, it the foam had about 100ft +/- to accelerate from 0 mph relative to the wing to whatever speed it impacted at. That speed was certainly well below the speed of the entire shuttle/tank/solid rocked combination at that point. If I had to hazard a guess I'd say relative impact speed was below 200mph - but it could be determined accurately by time-lapse analysis of the film.