[Bronco_Buster_FweetHyagh]

"He stated that there was no capability to do a spacewalk examination for damage."


Actually, no. What he said was, they don't have the ability to space-walk outside the bay AND REPAIR TILES.

He qualified his answer, and directed his answer to something that was NOT asked.

I don't believe for a second that the shuttle mission and crew couldn't have done a space-walk JUST to look at their wing.

[Tree of Liberty]

You are incorrect. After the NASA rep said there was no means of doing repairs, the journalist then asked about just inspecting for damage. The NASA rep then said they cannot walk to the underside of the vehicle.