"OK, what the heck has NASA been doing for the past two years?"
"Spending over $1 billion."
Exploring Mars, exploring Saturn, Exploring Titan, exporing comets.
Improving the shuttle in many other ways.
Its a test flight. TEST being the operative word here.
They are all test flights really.
We learn by doing.
NASA fixed several areas, and now another has come to attention because of all the new cameras and photography now.
"OK, what the heck has NASA been doing for the past two years?"
Spending over $1 billion.
Looks like they've spent that $1 billion on a bunch of new cameras to take higher resolution pictures of the foam insulation falling off to prove that the new foam sucks.
Funny thing is is that they already knew it fell off upon inspection of a shuttle after its return.