[Ole Okie]

Maybe if you have ever stuck your hand out the window at 60+ MPH, you will notice the wind wantss to rip it off. The same effect works in space.

If the wing was corrupted by the foam, it would have come apart during the sixteen days they were in space.

You've got to be joking.

Q. How do the astronauts do space walks at 17,000 miles per hour?

A. No atmosphere at orbit altitude. No air. No wind. QED.

[dtel]

Dude, I am not a space engineer.
But anytime you are subjecting a surface to that kind of speed and force, it will come apart like a jigsaw puzzle if corrupted.
The rockets were still attached when the foam hit, they were not in orbit, and still had a lot of stress to go thru to get in orbit.
They still had to deorbit, more stress on the wing and tiles.
It would have come apart beforehand, if damaged early in flight.
IMHO.