Once it had been determined the shuttle was in danger, Atlantis could have been sent up within a week. Once up in space, the ship could have sided up parellel to the Columbia, a member of Atlantis could have space walked out to the Columbia with a bag containing 7 space suits and (assuming Columbia had an airlock) then led the crew members out one by one. From there Atlantis could have flown back to earth. As NASA did not pursue this or any other line of action they must bear the burden of responsibilty for the deaths. If what I just proposed is impossible I'll step back of course.Whether they had an airlock is irrelevent... by the time we got another shuttle up, they would have suffocated (i.e. run out of oxygen)... there is NO way that NASA would risk launching a second shuttle in that short of a time period - to do so would have the potential for even MORE losses (rushing through safety checks, checklists, etc...)... in the time it would take to do it it safely, the stranded astronauts would be long dead...
Losing one crew is bad enough - to lose TWO crews? Not worth the price. No way.
Is the price of losing people on the ground too high a price to pay??? NASA was lucky no one on the ground was killed. It's not just the safety of the astronauts that NASA needs to consider.