[mewzilla]

Well, a commentator on ABCNews tonight said the first shuttle missions did indeed go up with tile repair kits until they stopped requiring them. If repairs were impossible, makes one wonder why they sent up those kits in the first place.

[Salgak]

For the same reason a lot of cars have first-aid kits.
In case of a major accident, the kit is just about useless, but for normal ops, it's a peace-of-mind generator. . .