[RightWhale]

Too late to play the game of IF, but if the shuttle had flown to the ISS like most shuttle launches instead of flying a separate mission in an entirely different orbit, the shuttle would have been thoroughly examined all around at the ISS and the crew would have been put up in the hotel until repairs were made.

[FReepaholic]

>>... but if the shuttle had flown to the ISS ...<<

Columbia could not go on missions to the ISS. It was too heavy.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

...but if the shuttle had flown to the ISS like most shuttle launches instead of flying a separate mission in an entirely different orbit...

The 40,000 lb. science lab they carried in the cargo bay pretty much ensured that Columbia could not have carried enough fuel to achieve synchronous orbit with the ISS. Unfortunate.

[Lokibob]

The ISS is not a space hotel. It has limited resources and a job to do.

[roadcat]

">>... but if the shuttle had flown to the ISS ...<<

Columbia could not go on missions to the ISS. It was too heavy."

And it didn't have the docking components. Even if columbia got there, no dock. The crew wasn't prepped for spacewalks either.

[Physicist]

Furthermore, Columbia had no mechanism by which it could have docked with the ISS.