>>...On the other thread tscislaw says the shuttle was too heavy to dock with the station...<<
Columbia was the first orbiter constructed. Later ones were lighter.
Plus, after the politicos appeased the Russians (IMHO) and agreed to put the ISS in an orbital inclination advantageous for them, the fleet had to be upgraded again.
Upgrades to the SRB's, the SSME's and other systems were made to allow the vehicles to attain orbit at that inclination.
Columbia did not have those upgrades.
I thought Enterprise was first.
I thought the whole space station project was specifically intended to be a joint U.S.-Russian initiative. The Russians were supposed to do what they did best (routine launches for paload delivery, spend long periods of time in space, etc.), while the U.S. would do what it did best (state-of-the-art technology, dealing with unusual high-tech components, etc.).