[OneLoyalAmerican]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong. My understanding of the crew compartment, it is simply a pressure vessel within the space frame. Could the pressure vessel could survive re-entry?

[michigander]

SPACE SHUTTLE COORDINATE SYSTEM
Scroll down to "CREW COMPARTMENT".

[bonesmccoy]

The crew module from 51-L survived the explosion at 73 seconds. The module is structurally designed to survive higher g-loads than the rest of the vehicle, so the crew module emerges from the rest of the vehicle as a cannon-ball would.

The question is if the crew module can be on a trajectory that can slow to a few hundred miles an hour prior to impact.

I doubt it.