Tom, a few questions as I don't really know enough here to judge:

1) Suppose that the end was not sudden, wouldn't the g forces of the tumbling crew cabin/shuttle quickly have killed the astronauts?

2) Supposing the cabin survived intact after separating from the shuttle even just for a while, wouldn't the hot boundry flow behind the shockwave enter the cabin and swiftly kill the astronauts?

I have a hard time thinking that the astronauts could survive those conditions longer than a handfull of seconds. In fact, I imagined it, and my original investigation led me to think it was something like... "Why are we off course... We should radio hou<dead>"

Everything I read made the energies and time frame involved look as sudden as being nailed by a freight train with a giant actelyne torch attached. This source says otherwise....

Davin