The crash coordinates of location of 35.20N 119.01W are said to be in the middle of downtown Bakersfield while the actual coordinates are actually about 20 miles south.
The Space Shuttle was designed to land back on Earth even if the engine were not working. The principle is the same as a seagull gliding down to land.
Ralph speculates on the Space Shuttle's weight. The Shuttles weighed 165,000 pounds empty. Although it would not have the following on re-entry, the external tank weighed 78,100 pounds empty, the two solid rocket boosters weighed 185,000 pounds empty each, and each solid rocket booster held 1.1 million pounds of fuel.
While discussing the crossword puzzle and Bill's gun he says,, "Give me a 12-letter word describing an American firearm that sticks to a belt buckle." He presumably means "Smith & Wesson", the maker of the gun. However, the "&" symbol wouldn't be in a crossword puzzle.
The Space Shuttle was in orbit to retrieve a satellite called Scoop, and when the shuttle came down to Earth an alien stowaway wreaked havoc. This is very similar to the movie The Andromeda Strain (1971), where a Project Scoop satellite came down to Earth with an alien microbe on it that killed everyone who came in contact with it.