DW> Suppose they had done an inspection and found the tiles were
 DW> missing, what could they have done? The shuttle wasn't at the ISS.

 MvV> But it could have gone there and dock couldn't it?

Nowhere close!

 MvV> If they couldn't have gone to the ISS to wait for the next shuttle,
 MvV> when  aware of the problem, they could perhaps have done
 MvV> something to increase their chances. Like dumping every
 MvV> piece of mass not needed to land. Or land at a place nearer
 MvV> to the equator so their entry velocity would be lower.

The only thing that might have worked was an immediate launch abort,
either back to the Cape or either of the European emergency strips,
but they weren't watching close enough.

... NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!
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