What was atypical about this re-entry track? It appeared to me to be normal for the orbit the shuttle was in. Norm ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dale Hooper" <Dale.Hooper@sdl.usu.edu> To: <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 9:32 AM Subject: RE: [Utah-astronomy] Today's NASA Briefing There is something that I have been really curious about that I haven't seen mentioned (please forgive me if I somehow just missed it). We know that the shuttle was following an atypical reentry track - because we were able to observe it over southern Utah. I'm wondering if this reentry profile presents times when there are greater stresses on the orbiter than a typical reentry profile? I.e., more severe banking that might overly stress an already somewhat damaged wing; which wouldn't have caused a failure in a more typical reentry profile. Certainly, this wouldn't be a root cause - but might be a contributing factor. Obviously, I've entered into second tier speculation. <g> _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy