The time compression insta-death is pretty much my biggest gripe with the game at the moment. I like to plot a course, yank TC up to 1024, and then Alt+Tab to Firefox (I play in windowed mode) to post on forums, watch films, check on my Facebook profile, study or whatever.
I'd very much like it if the crew got better at calling out contacts, and the sound of SH5 was still audible even after you'd Alt-Tab'd out, so that I could get back in and take command.
As it is, I guess I can always tweak the game so that it pauses when an enemy contact is sighted
.