Can the shuttle have been shot down with a stinger?

Great Debates
21

Mach 17. 200,000 feet. Not a missile. No way.

22

Short answer, no. The Stinger has a ceiling of around 10,000 feet, according to FAS. By comparison, even the Patriot SAM only has a maximum altitude of around 80,000 feet.

23

200,700 feet

No way, the Stinger cant reach such heights. It’s ceiling height is 10,000 feet.

24

No terrorist shot down the Space Shuttle travelling at Mach 17 while it was nearly 40 miles up. Iraq didn’t do it either. I don’t really know that we could have intercepted a vessel that high up moving that fast.

Let’s try to contain ourselves on spreading conspiracy theories and baseless rumors.