From the images seen on the internet, it appears that a meteor breached the magnetosphere with the shuttle and our astronaut heroes flew the shuttle into the meteor, saving millions of lives... isn't that a great thought?

I researched this idea and learned the place of a meteoric explosion was seen in the sky. ... saw a light hit the shuttle on the right side from underneath after coming out of the Van Allen Belt. Research reveals mysterious lights can sometimes indicate a meteoric explosion in the sky, results of same reveal a pink, orange or red color in the sky, which matches observances of those using telescopes and video. Meteor could have created gross damage in Texas but appears that shuttle collision saved a lot of people.

peace,