[r9etb]

If they find a serious problem, they would have to re-dock with the station at some point.

And if they had to do that, I think you can probably count on that Shuttle never coming home. Meaning that they've got the deorbit propellant available for the rendezvous.

[RightWhale]

spaceflightnow.com
1605 GMT (12:05 p.m. EDT)

In the news briefing now underway at Johnson Space Center, shuttle program manager Wayne Hale says the object could be a piece of ice, the plastic shim used during tile installation seen hanging off the belly of Atlantis during inspections earlier in the mission or something else. Officials are discussing further observations of Atlantis using the shuttle inspection boom. That would happen tomorrow, since the crew is nearing its bedtime for today.

---

They will sleep well while listening for more hits.

[monkapotamus]

[Cold Heat]

I think you can probably count on that Shuttle never coming home

That would be the case, unless it is something they could replace/repair if they had the parts.