If the burn through had occurred further counterclockwise and outside the 90 degree arc,, could Challengers TPS have absorbed the heat from what was a very large solid-fuel blowtorch?
The thought was that with only about 40 seconds left in the SRB burn, and the increased distance between the burnthru and the Shuttle wing, the tiles could have protected the structure.
FWIW I’ve held a 1” thick piece of tile in my hand with a MAPP torch on the other side and felt nothing, while the other side was glowing white.
The SRB flame is about 4500 degrees, and the MAPP torch is over 5000 degrees, so that probably would not be a problem.
The SRB exhaust speed is around Mach 2, but I doubt the burnthru speed was near that high. So the flame pressure probably would not have been a problem either.