[Karsus]

What about a ground based telescope? We must have something that could have seen the shuttle.

[alancarp]

...ground-based scopes...
The claim is that the resolution wouldn't be good enough -- I suspect tracking would be a serious problem for them, too. The shuttle (in orbit) crosses the entire horizon in about 90-120 seconds.

[snopercod]

We must have something that could have seen the shuttle.

Dittemore explained it in detail. "Even if you could see some white areas on on a telescope, that would not tell you the nature of the damage. Regardless, there is nothing that could be done anyway. We have no capability to repair any damage."

Some moron from WESH asking a question that was answered earlier on how many seconds into the ascent that the debris fell off the ET. They should make these guys pass a basic intelligence test before being allowed into the room.