[txradioguy]

They had nothing else to do. The ONLY place tiles can be replaces is on earth. The curing process can't be done in space and each tile is custom made to fit that specific place on the aircraft. They were merely playing the odds by thinking "well we've lost tiles before and got them home safely" No matter how good a gambler you are, the house does still win sometimes as they did this time.

[Jerry505]

Well, if they DID have extra EVA suits on the ISS, how would they get them into the Shuttle so the Astronauts could suit up and get into the station? We haven't QUITE mastered the transporter systems yet, but I'm sure Mr. Scott is working long and hard to make sure we can beam suits to the shuttle if they are ever needed. Let's get real folks. There is NOTHING they could have done. Well, short of leaving them up there to suffocate. There was NO WAY to get the Astronauts from one shuttle to another or from the shuttle to the ISS.

[yonif]

Based upon the findings of freepers, we have concluded the following about the video/and the image.

The "Cracks" are nothing but:

1) A wire taped to the inside of the shuttle's hull with Band-Aid shaped pieces of aluminum tape.

2) A seam in a tarp-like fabric that appears to have been folded against the inside of the hull.