Here is a NASA plain english overview of RCC (reinforced carbon-carbon) panel manufacture, fixings and usage on the wing leading edge:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/...ps/carbon.html
The RCC panels are mechanically attached to the wing with a series of floating joints to reduce loading on the panels caused by wing deflections. The seal between each wing leading edge panel is referred to as a T-seal. The T-seals allow for lateral motion and thermal expansion differences between the RCC and the orbiter wing. In addition, they prevent the direct flow of hot boundary layer gases into the wing leading edge cavity during entry. The T-seals are constructed of RCC.
Plus some coherent reporting on the exact sequence of events, contains some information I'd not seen before:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...4/MN226524.DTL
Seconds after this final, abortive communication, two of the shuttle's right-side jets fired to help keep the craft in the right flight orientation, and the elevon motions grew, the left one moving upward by 8.11 degrees.
A second later, all data and communications disappeared.