Rough Left Wing?

Here is an interesting article, which suggests that roughness on the left wing might have caused Columbia's demise. Roughness is very, very important in aerodynamics, especially when a laminar-to-turbulent flow transition is involved. Even slight damage to the Shuttle's tiles or the spaces between them, not necessarily sufficient to dislodge the tiles, might have been enough to affect their roughness, and therefore radically affect the airflow around the wing.