Replies

One by One:

Point One:

There was no effective way to view the underside of the shuttle wing from Earth or any space-based vantage point.

Point 2:

There was no fuel on board to take the shuttle to the ISS. The orbits of the shuttle and the ISS were not compatible. If the shuttle were to be able to rondevoux with the ISS it would have had to be programmed to do so from the start.

Even if the shuttle could have flown to the ISS, it could not link up since the docking module was not carried aboard, as it was not needed and was unusable for this mission.

Point 3:

The Columbia crew had no ability to either investigate or fix. Information would hvve been useless to them. They do not carry aboard the thoushands of different tile shapes and sizes needed to replace any given broken tile. Nor do they carry along the EVA suits unless the mission contemplates such activity. The crew could not go out into the vacuum of space, did not carry repair materials, and could not see the underside of the wing.

Point 4:

I cannot tell exactly what is depicted in this photograph. But I can tell you that it is not the wing. The left shuttle wing is not visible from the cockpit.

This entire article is written with a disregard for research into the facts. It is in the class of "3,000 year old mummy gives birth to healty baby boy," and is deserving of no more credence.

"The attention was now focused on the crew cabin cameras. These cameras gave more of a side view of the external tank as it tumbled back to Earth. These photographs revealed massive material loss on a side of the external tank that could not be viewed by the umbilical cameras!"

(This is a flight assment from 1997 for the Columbia when the problem of the foam breaking off was first noted. Actually, it was noted before that flight.)

http://216.239.33.100/search?q=cache:ryqlvTHKXEgC:ltp.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/journals/katnik/sts87-12-23.html+greg+katnik+tile+damage&hl=en&ie=UTF-8