[Bronco_Buster_FweetHyagh]

When there is an emergency situation, people are capable of incredible things. Did you watch the Tom Hanks movie about the return of the "doomed" apollo mission?

Believe me, if they had determined there was no safe way to re-enter orbit, they would NOT have just re-entered and said "oh well let's roll the dice".

They would have gone to the space station and lived there until their return could be arranged.

[Don Munn]

You must be in a similar orbit to make the station and also once you commit to deorbit there is no return to space. The shuttle would not have the right angle to track and catch the space station.

[steveegg]

When there is an emergency situation, people are capable of incredible things. Did you watch the Tom Hanks movie about the return of the "doomed" apollo mission?

Believe me, if they had determined there was no safe way to re-enter orbit, they would NOT have just re-entered and said "oh well let's roll the dice".

They would have gone to the space station and lived there until their return could be arranged.

Check your history, son. Apollo 13 was in 1970; Skylab wasn't launched until 1973. The Soviet Salyut 1 (the first space station) wasn't launched until 1971.