NASA maybe screwed
NASA can't drop kick the Shuttle until after CEV is ready. That won't happen until 2010 at the earliest. The ET has probably been shedding foam since Columbia first launched in 1981. Unfortunately after having lost Columbia to foam impact, NASA is now understandably gun shy about shedding foam. It maybe impossible for the ET to fly and not shed foam. NASA should have gone with a hot metal thermal protection system (TPS). Using fragile TPS material was poor design.
Gary