&gt; sent a second shuttle to retrieve them very easily<p>Every report I&#x27;ve read this, the math doesn&#x27;t check out here. It takes months at a minimum to get a shuttle ready for launch and there&#x27;s no proven method for accelerating that time frame or keeping people alive in the shuttle for the extended periods of time required to prep another launch. It&#x27;s not like they had a second one waiting on the pad ready to go.<p>This isn&#x27;t even taking into consideration the required engineering and logistics around moving people between shuttles, which there&#x27;s no procedure for.<p>These things aren&#x27;t minor details.<p>Source: I&#x27;ve played kerbal space program. :-)