It was possible to save them, but it wasn’t actionable. The level of danger the crew was in wasn’t fully understood, and NASA didn’t believe that they were going to lose the crew and ship on reentry, so nothing was done.
The only option they had were to send another shuttle up and transfer to it. There was nothing in place to repair the heat shielding, even if they had known the amount of damage.
The shuttle transfer would have been something never attempted or even planned for.
More like Columbia, where the issue is detected and they bring it home anyway and it breaks up on reentry.
I’ve always wondered if there was a viable solution to save the Colombia astronauts
It was possible to save them, but it wasn’t actionable. The level of danger the crew was in wasn’t fully understood, and NASA didn’t believe that they were going to lose the crew and ship on reentry, so nothing was done.
I would recommend watching this whole video if you have the time, but I’ve linked to the most relevant chapter. It’s a very good breakdown about the failures of NASA’s risk management around the space shuttle.
The only option they had were to send another shuttle up and transfer to it. There was nothing in place to repair the heat shielding, even if they had known the amount of damage.
The shuttle transfer would have been something never attempted or even planned for.