There's not a whole lot new in this latest SF Chronicle <a href=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/02/05/MN192153.DTL">article on the mysterious, corkscrewing, "purple rope" captured by an un-named Bay Area photographer at about the same time a wheel well sensor on Columbia began recording elevated temperatures.

"The digital image is one of five snapped by the shuttle buff at roughly 5: 53 a.m (local-sp). Saturday as sensors on the doomed orbiter began showing the first indications of trouble. Seven minutes later, the craft broke up in flames over Texas. "

The initial off-nominal temperature rise in one of the left wheel-well sensors occured at approx. 13:52:20, according to data released by NASA, and very kindly reproduced here by Robert.

By recording the positions of background stars, It should be possible for NASA to determine the precise time-frame during which the photographer snapped his several second exposure showing the "purple rope."

Perhaps the nearly simultaneous occurance of these two events (photo and off-nominal sensor data) is merely coincidence, and perhaps the strange "purple rope" is merely some peculiar image artifact.

However, my gut instinct tells me that we may have something here, something which was very bad for Columbia.

Stay tuned.
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