The closely analyzed photo of space shuttle Columbia’s underside was not taken with cutting-edge military equipment, but by three researchers playing around with an old Mac and a home telescope in their free time, reports the Associated Press. “The grainy photo was made Feb. 1 at the Starfire Optical Range at Kirtland Air Force Base and released Friday by NASA. It shows what appears to be a suspicious bulge on the shuttle’s wing shortly before it broke apart. But contrary to reports last week, the photo was not snapped by one of Starfire’s extraordinarily powerful telescopes, which are designed to spy on enemy satellites and detect incoming missiles. Instead, it was taken by Starfire Optical Range engineers who, in their free time, had rigged up a device using a commercially available 3 1/2-inch telescope and an 11-year-old Macintosh computer, the researchers said.”
