As to the Space Suttle tile "repair kit", I remember reading in Science magazine about this egg sculpture in Canada. A
In the late 70's, a town in Alberta Canada, Vegreville, wanted a giant aluminum egg decorated like those ultra-fancy Ukranian Easter eggs to celebrate their town's ethnic heritage. This Univ. of Utah computer science professor was able to design the egg with a very limited number of triangular and star-shaped tiles. He discovered he could make almost any shape with just a limited number of triangles and star shapes.
They then realized they could have tiled the Space Shuttle this way, and instead of every tile being unique, they could have just used a few different triangles and stars, and it would have made the carrying of "spares" do-able, since only a limited number of shapes would have to have been carried. But it was too late.
http://www.geocities.com/williamwchow/egg/e-egg.htm
The shuttle is a very impressive vehicle, considering it's high-end 1960's technology, built in the 70's, and tested in the 80's. Unfortunately it's a horrendus waste. The Shuttle's "Reusability" is a farce, it costs more to refurb the shuttle for each flight than it does to build a new rocket each time.
If we'd spent the entire Shuttle program's budget and just put capsules and cargo on the very reliable Delta series launchers, we could have done ten times the number of missions, and been gearing up for a return to the moon by now, if not actualy having a base there.