"Pat Flannery" wrote in message
dakotatelephone...

You could sever them using a linear shaped charge around the body of the
vehicle.

One word for both Pat and Derek on this: mass. Surely a shaped charge, even
a small one, would be fairly heavy. Explosive bolts are used regularly on
spacecraft, and only fail once in a while. I think the old addage of
"Better the devil you know...".