[Pants]

Originally Posted by Silock

Spoiler!

Because the whole thing was on fire. Columbia shuttle disaster was a similar thing. Not to mention, she would have died from the fire on the way down to Earth. Landing that close to shore isn't impossible, just another in a series of incredibly improbable events in the movie.

Spoiler!

To be fair, the Chinese station had a modular design. None of the modules besides the escape craft were designed for re-entry that's why they burned up while the capsule did not. Columbia was not a modular design, so a little chink in its armor caused it to burn up.

Overall, though, I agree... there were many things you could nitpick when it came to realism. Still, the movie was a fun ****ing ride, I don't care who you are.