Very close-up, slo-mo of the Columbia launch debris

[ReignDomain]

http://www.floridatoday.com/columbia/debrisvideo.htm

 

[TopNames.com]

wow...that looks like a big chunk of tiles was ripped off :sad:

 

[all4cost]

hard to say ....... sad though

 

[com]

If that is ice, that explains the particle cloud, if it is not ice, the damage was severe and to a critial point in the structure. If those were smashed tiles, that wing lost a good amount of heat protection. At 3000 degrees (when the craft started falling apart) those missing/destroyed tiles exposed the wing and led to catastrophic damage!

 

[Christopher Marks]

Hopefully there is another view point of the launch that can be more definate.