Dorozhand
Banned
Analysis of the circumstances of the 2003 Columbia disaster found that, had the damage to the left wing been spotted earlier, it was barely possible that Atlantis could have been quickly launched and mounted a rescue mission to save her crew. What if that mission had been carried out? Even if it had failed, the fact that NASA had recognized the problem and put together such a daring effort, expenses be damned, to save the crew would have been a major PR victory snatched from the jaws of disaster a la Apollo 13. And if it had succeeded, faith in the program would have skyrocketed. What do you think?