Hi Paul,

 MvV>> As I understand, the investigators are now leaning towards
 MvV>> the theory of failure of the attitude control during decent.

 PR> Drag on the left wing.  Well, DOH!  If they had a burn-thru
 PR> from the suspected left wing tile damage, maybe something
 PR> ripped and "flapping in the breeze", there would be drag.

Yes, but what was cause and what was effect?

We have had accidents because of software errors before. Remember that Mars
lander that crashed because someone mixed up meters and feet?

And the Ariane V that crashed because its software that was taken from the
lighter Ariane IV had a Y2K like overflow in a critical parameter?

Maybe, just maybe this accident was caused by an "improvement" in
the software that controlled the re-entry.

I find the "space debris" theory more likely though..

Regards, Michiel

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