What is the connection between the Space Shuttle Columbia and sprites?
Shortly after Prof. John Winckler observed sprites from the ground in 1989, NASA officials realized that they had been using similar low-light cameras on the Space Shuttle to take pictures of lightning and other events. A review of the payload bay video cameras flown from 1989 to 1991, found at least 18 examples of what appear to be sprites. Then in 2003, the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon, flew on the STS-107 mission with optical equipment designed to make detailed, calibrated images of sprites. Within several days of launch, successful images of sprites (and elves) were sent back to Earth for further analysis. Did sprites pay a role in the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia? Shortly after the tragic loss of the Shuttle Columbia on 1 February 2003, wild rumors began to fly that the Shuttle was brought down by a sprite. This was fueled by reports of a picture taken by an amateur astronomer in San Francisco purporting to show some sort of lightning-like bolt striking or emanating f
