7.78 Million Pounds of thrust meets a brick wall...

Shuttle Pad Damaged
Inspection after the launch of the Space Shuttle has revealed the tremendous power that the shuttle has at take off. The Apollo era launch pad suffered significant damage at launch and has concerned NASA officials who plan to use the pad in October. There are only two working shuttle launch pads and both must be operational in October when the final non-International Space Station mission is flown to repair the Hubble Telescope.
Since all remaining missions are flying to the ISS, the need for a rescue ship is negligible as the astronauts can use the ISS as a safe haven until help arrives. With the mission to the Hubble, no such safe haven exists, therefore a second shuttle will be on the other launch pad to serve as a rescue ship. Crazy power equals crazy damage. Will be interesting to see in the near term what comes to be.