Just about all missions in the same orbit as the station?
Then the shuttle could be inspected by the crew of the station...Even when a docking is not to be part of the mission...(Granted this wouldn't be possible on HST and similair repair missions)
On the HST Missions maybe the tiles could be inspected by Orbiting telescopes designed for the task. But that still wouldn't solve any problem as there is no way to repair any damage that is found...The only hope then would be that the crew could hold out until some sort of rescue mission could be launched...Which would in and of itself be very risky...But under extreeme circumstances, possible.
Scott