This just seems to be a way of explaining away the fact that he should have burned up, or the heat shields are not needed on space craft.
He started at 0mph and accelerated to about 840mph in very low air pressure before slowing back down. Bullets travel at speeds below the speed of sound up to 1900mph, sometimes more, and that's at ground air pressure. Jets can travel faster much faster too. Even land-based vehicles have achieved 760mph.
So no, there's no reason he should have burned up.
The space shuttle on the other had, is already moving around 17,000mph when it starts to encounter more air.
Curious what happens when something enters the atmosphere at about 41,000mph? Look up a video of the meteor that tried it over Russia in February.