[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

OK. so devise a repair kit that moulds epoxy-ablative material over the missing tile space. If aerodynamically necessary, mould a dummy ablative patch on the other wing.

If each tile is a custom size and shape, replacements could be a mosaic of smaller pieces which could be fitted into many different sizes.

Considering the cost of a shuttle and the incalculable value of it's crew, a repair kit seems like small potatoes.

[John Jamieson]

Tile is only one of 100,000 possibilities.