That piece of insulation, which fell off 82 seconds after launch, hit the leading edge of Columbia's left wing and caused enough damage to bring about the shuttle's destruction when it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere February 1.

CNN: Columbia probe seeks better monitoring

It seems very unlikely it would be able to hit--it seems impossible it could the tiles because this is sort of on top of the space shuttle.

NPR: Shuttle Spacewalk Repair Mission a Success