what direction does the shuttle take from the space station...is it a direct route?

Answer 1

No. The shuttle and space station are both orbiting Earth, even when they are not docked. In the hours after the shuttle leaves the space station, it orbits the Earth many times, getting slowly farther from the space station as they both orbit in slightly different orbital paths, until the Shuttle reenters the atmosphere. It is not direct in the sense of a straight line at all.