Hi David,

 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.

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

 DW> It had supplies for only a few more days. Sooner or later, they'd
 DW> have had to attempt a landing. There was no other place to go.

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

Just guessing of course.

Cheers, Michiel

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