"Rick Nelson" wrote:

The tire blew the failing aluminum very far inside the failure zone of its
structural inegrity. The outer wing would have failed a few seconds later
without the tire blowing, but I don't think the Shuttle would have become
so quickly twisted into a sideways position that ripped it apart if the
tire hadn't blown well inside of where the wing heating and tear caused by
the cracked CCR and tiles falling off would have occurred and was
weakening the wing.

It's kind of a moot point, but some of you pricks are really dumb (IMHO).

Thanks,

Rick

I mostly lurk in this newsgroup but of most regulars who post here, you seem
to be the biggest whiner in the group. Why's that?

T.B.